Reminder to all Commonwealth fish receivers

On 1 July 2005, new US regulations regarding statistical reporting of swordfish, frozen bigeye tuna, northern bluefin tuna and southern bluefin tuna came into operation. These regulations require that any of these species exported into the US must be accompanied by an appropriate export document.

During the later half of 2004, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and AFMA implemented the Australian Fish Export Statistical Document Program to meet the requirements of these upcoming export requirements. This program has been in operation since November 2004, and applies to exports of frozen bigeye tuna, broadbill swordfish and northern bluefin tuna. The CCSBT Trade Information Scheme (TIS) has been in operation since 2000 and applies to all exports of SBT.

Both these programs comply with the new US regulations.
Any exports of southern bluefin tuna, northern bluefin tuna, frozen bigeye tuna and broadbill swordfish must be accompanied by the validated export document. Exports not accompanied by this document may be rejected or destroyed by importing nations. Commonwealth licensed fish receivers, who have registered with AFMA, are authorised to validate these forms on behalf of the Australian Government.

For further information visit our website or if you have any questions regarding this program, please contact Anne Shepherd (02) 6272 5297 or Colleen Cross on (02) 6272 5286.

Two new public registers for AFMA website

Register of shark and deepwater ITQ species

The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) shark and deepwater individual transferable quota (ITQ) species register is now available via the AFMA website.

The register lists operators in the SESSF that permanently hold quota for the species currently managed via ITQs under the SESSF Management Plan. These species are, School shark, Ribaldo, Gummy shark, Smooth dory cascade, Elephant fish, Smooth dory, Sawshark, Deepwater sharks - east, Deepwater sharks - west and Oreos.

The register is designed to encourage efficient quota trading in the SESSF for ITQ species. It lists operators in the fishery that may be willing to either permanently transfer or seasonally lease their quota to other operators. For privacy reasons, AFMA has only listed the details of SESSF concession holders who have provided written authority for their information to be released.

Register of fish receiver permit holders

From time to time AFMA receives enquiries for a list of fish receiver permit (FRP) holders. As the details of FRP holders is confidential and subject to the Privacy Act 1984, AFMA has not been in a position to release this information. To alleviate this problem AFMA has sought the written approval from FRP holders to establish a public FRP register.

There are currently nine fisheries gazetted under Section 91(1) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 that require licensed fishers to only sell or dispose their fish to people who hold current FRPs. These fisheries are, Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery, Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery, Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery, Southern and Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery, Southern Squid Jig Fishery, Bass Strait Scallop Central Zone Fishery, South Tasman Rise Fishery, Coral Sea Fishery and Norfolk Island Offshore Demersal Finfish Fishery.

The FRP register provides a list of all the current FRP holders licensed to receive fish from any AFMA licensed operator and can be viewed on the AFMA website from 1 December 2005.

If you would like AFMA to include your details on either of these registers where applicable, please contact the AFMA Licensing & Quota Management Section on 1300 723 621.

Quota transaction statements

Effective January 2006, AFMA will issue Quota Transaction Statements (QTS), together with catch summaries and quota holding summaries, on a quarterly basis to operators in the Bass Strait Scallop Central Zone Fishery, Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery and Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery.

In conjunction with this service, concession holders are reminded they may obtain up to date information on the status of their quota holdings on Quotaview via AFMA’s website.

To apply for access to Quotaview please contact the AFMA Licensing & Quota Management Section on 1300 723 621.

In an effort to implement cost effective administration of the quota system and to keep fishery levies down, an upfront administration fee of $30.00 will be payable for all QTS reports (or accompanying summaries) requested outside the quarterly issue.