Australia boards suspected illegal foreign fishing boat

A foreign fishing vessel suspected of operating illegally in the remote Macquarie Island Exclusive Economic Zone was boarded and inspected last week.

Customs and Fisheries patrol vessel Oceanic Viking escorted the FV Taruman, a 76 metre fishing vessel which weighs 2,145 tonnes, to Hobart on Saturday 9 September for further investigation by AFMA for fisheries offences.

With the agreement and cooperation of the government of Cambodia, officers from the Oceanic Viking boarded the Cambodian-flagged Taruman on Tuesday 6 September. The boarding occurred in international waters approximately 720 nautical miles (1,333 kilometres) north, north west of Macquarie Island, 660 nautical miles (1,200 kilometres) south of Hobart. Investigations are continuing.

Minister for Fisheries, Senator the Hon Ian Macdonald, said the operation was part of an ongoing campaign against illegal fishing in Australia's southern waters.

Southern bluefin tuna not listed as threatened

Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator the Hon Ian Campbell, has considered the advice of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee and decided not to list Southern bluefin tuna (SBT) as a threatened species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act at this time.

The Minister has concluded that the listing of the SBT as a threatened species under the EPBC Act would be detrimental to the survival of the species, as it may weaken Australia's ability to influence both the management of the global fishing effort and the global conservation of the species.

Australia is party to an international agreement, through the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), for the management of SBT.

New species under quota in SESS Fishery

At its recent meeting in Sydney, the AFMA Board determined amendments to the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark (SESS) Fishery Management Plan, following conclusion of the public comment period.

The amendments bring alfonsino in the East Coast Deep Water Trawl Sector, and deepwater flathead, bight redfish and orange roughy (Great Australian Bight (GAB) Albany and Esperence zones) in the GAB Trawl Sector, under quota management. The western boundary of the GAB Eastern zone will also now be at 136E. Other sectors of the SESS fishery are not affected by the amendments.

The Board also noted progress on applying the harvest strategy framework to setting total allowable catches for 2006 in the SESS Fishery. The harvest strategy framework sets consistent limits on the impact of fishing on targeted species. Applying this strategy in the SESS Fishery for 2006 is a key step in ensuring fish for the future.

Tuna fishers turn out to reduce bycatch

The Eastern Tuna and Longline fishing fleet have shown their commitment to reducing bycatch with good attendance at AFMA’s Longline Bycatch Reduction Initiative workshops.

AFMA recently held workshops and port visits to provide information and training on mitigation measures to help prevent the unwanted bycatch of seabirds, sharks and turtles.

Over 85 permit holders, skippers and crew attended the workshops and over 80 boats were called on during the port visits. All attendees at the workshops received a free tori line kit and de-hooker and line cutter set. For more information, or if you have missed out and would like to order a kit, please contact Alex Lynch on AFMA Direct 1300 723 621.

The Longline Bycatch Reduction Initiative is part of AFMA’s Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) project funded by the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust.

Better coordination of fisheries research

Coordination of the funding of Commonwealth fisheries research will improve with membership of the Commonwealth Fisheries Research Advisory Board expanding to include all Australian Government agencies that fund research into Commonwealth fisheries. The move will enable the total pool of funds to used as efficiently as possible for the benefit of fisheries and the Australian community.

Good response to calls for fisheries research

Over 60 applications have been received as a response to calls for applications for research for 2006 through our Management Advisory Committees (MACs) and AFMA's Research Committee (ARC).

The applications have now been assessed by MACs and our Research section, and will be considered at a Commonwealth Fisheries Research Advisory Board (COMFRAB) meeting on 6-7 October.

Worthy applications will be recommended to appropriate funding agencies, including AFMA and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.

The priorities for funding of research proposals were established at the ARC/COMFRAB gap analysis and priority setting workshop held in March this year. You can view the final report from this workshop at www.afma.gov.au/research/program/.