Australian Gov’t To Consider Support Tuna Industry After Deep Quota Cut ff

Source: ABC News

The Federal Government says it will consider what level of support it can offer Port Lincoln’s tuna industry.

The Federal Government says it will consider what level of support it can offer Port Lincoln’s tuna industry once plans are in place to manage a cut to the catch quota.

Australia’s southern bluefin tuna quota has been cut by 25 per cent over two years because of declining fish numbers.

Federal Fisheries Minister Tony Burke says before any support is offered, the Government will work with the industry to find out how it wants to manage the cuts.

“Those are issues that we want to work through with industry and until we've got those discussions through, it’s too early to have discussions about the employment consequences because they'll all hinge on where industry wants to go on that first question,” he said.

“The information that came, was saying if the world kept going the way it was, it was a case of the species potentially facing extinction. These are difficult decisions, we don’t deny that for a minute but it needs to be acknowledged the reason for taking these decisions is because the alternatives were far far worse.”

Retraining

The Eyre Peninsula Regional Development Board says it will look at retraining for people who may lose their jobs because of cuts to the tuna quota.

The Board’s Mark Cant says at least 150 jobs could be lost, but it will take time for individual licence holders to assess their situations.

He says if tuna prices increase, jobs will not be lost immediately.

“There’s still a lot of requirement in regards to the maintenance of the cages, nets, obviously the feeding side of it, but they’ll be looking at how they can reduce costs and obviously labor is one of those components,” he said.

”There’s a big labor component within the tuna industry and obviously those people have got skills and we'll be trying to look at where we can adapt those skills in existing aquaculture and fishing industries, but also with the potential for mining in the not too distant future.”

The president of the Port Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Steve Prout, says the wider impact of the quota cuts on the city is starting to hit home.

“It’s not just the actual industry itself and those that work in it but also the ancillary trade, the truck drivers, the freight companies, the electricians, the plumbers, all those sorts of people who are directly affected by the industry,” he said.

Some Basic Facts on Southern Bluefin Fisheries

Southern Bluefin Tuna

Map of Fishing Zones

Facts

• Australia and Japan have the biggest catches of SBT
• Primary market in Japanese sashimi
• Total value of fishery estimated at around $1 billion
• Critically endangered on IUCN Red List of threatened species
• Now broad concern that it’s being overfished

History

• Was heavily fished in the 1960s
• Quotas were imposed in the 1980s by the main fishing nations Australia, Japan and New Zealand
• The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna includes those three countries plus other fishing nations like Korea and Indonesia. It’s responsible for setting total allowable catch allocations for member nations.

Current allocation per year for member countries