The Federal Government has released new guidelines and restrictions for the 2013 fishing season.
In a statement the Australian Fisheries Management Authority said all target species would have a limit of 2,000 M/T and an overcatch/udercatch limit of ten percent.
The target species are Bigeye Tuna, Broadbill Swordfish, Striped Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna and Albacore Tuna.
Overcatch/undercatch is an arrangement that lets fishers to be flexible with their operations, allowing a small amount of unused or overused quota to be accounted for in the following season.
“These allowances reduce the pressure on the industry at the end of the fishing season to obtain small amounts of quota and also reduce the need for AFMA to take compliance action if these small amounts cannot be covered,†the regulator said.
The 2013 quota covers most Australian waters, with the regulations covering the Eastern Tuna Billfish Fishery and the Western Tuna Billlfish Fishery.
The ETBF extends from Cape York to the SA/VIC border, while the WTBF covers waters west of Cape York to the SA/VIC border.