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Australian Taxation Office request for information

In late 2005, AFMA received a request from the Australian Taxation Office to release information under section 264 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.

The request was for details held by AFMA of all transfers and leases of Commonwealth fishing concessions, including Statutory Fishing Rights, quota and fishing permits, between October 2001 and September 2005.

The details sought for each transaction were the name and address of the vendor and purchaser, the ABN (if provided), the date of transfer, and the name of the vessel and home port attached to the concession (if applicable). AFMA is required to comply with section 264 requests and has now provided the requested information to the ATO.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact Geoff Richardson, General Manager – Sustainability and Business Management on 02 6272 5535.

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Conserving Southern Bluefin Tuna off Australia’s East Coast

AFMA has announced the latest arrangements for conserving Southern Bluefin tuna (SBT) stocks off the East-Coast of Australia.

AFMA Managing Director, Mr Richard McLoughlin, said each year AFMA draws on the latest scientific data to establish the ‘zones' in which precautionary management measures are applied to ensure the incidental catch of SBT is covered by Australia's allocation of quota.

“From 10 June, fishers wishing to fish inside these zones, must hold minimum quantities of SBT quota and must also carry an AFMA observer on-board their vessel. This approach has been in place for 6 years and has been endorsed by the fishery's Management Advisory Committee which includes industry, science and environmental representatives.

“To ensure the impact on the fishing industry is minimised as much as possible, AFMA undertakes a full review of the location of the zones every two weeks from May to October.

“To reduce the administrative cost on the industry, AFMA has developed a new approach this year whereby operators nominate if they wish to fish in the waters adjacent to NSW where the SBT zones are in place. With the cooperation of operators, we anticipate this could save up to $45,000 in management costs per year across the fishery” he said.

Full details of the 2006 arrangements have been mailed to all ETBF licence holders and are also available on AFMA’s website.

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Swordfish tagging research enters a new phase

Recognising the need for a better understanding of swordfish movement and acting on the advice of ComFRAB, the AFMA Board agreed in April 2006 to fund the project Investigation of local movement and regional migration behaviour of broadbill swordfish targeted by the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery.

The project has the support of Eastern Tuna and Billfish MAC. The project also will include liaison with researchers in Hawaii who are exploring swordfish movements in their region.

The current project will deploy up to 40 pop-up satellite archival tags off Mooloolaba (ten fish in each of four longitudinal regions).

In addition, ten newly-developed tags using GPS technology will be deployed. This follows a previous project looking at the nature and extent of swordfish movement and migration in the east and west AFZ.

The project will test alternative hypotheses regarding swordfish movement and develop an understanding of swordfish migratory behaviour in the western Pacific Ocean, Tasman and Coral Seas. This will assist AFMA in implementing appropriate management arrangements in the ETBF. The project is expected to conclude in June 2008.

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Reminder for researchers

The Commonwealth Fisheries Research Advisory Body (ComFRAB) has sent out its 2006 call for research applications.

Applications are sought for cross-fishery research addressing the following four areas:

• Monitoring
• Spatial management, harvest strategies and bio-economic modelling
• TAC/ITQ management and boat SFRs
• Administrative efficiency

Interested researchers are encouraged to visit the reaserch area on the AFMA website for more information.

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‘Trigger limits’ set for Broadbill Swordfish

Broadbill swordfish is under a competitive TAC for 2006. In managing this TAC, trigger limits have been set that apply to the total catch of broadbill for a specified period of time.

If this trigger limit is reached within a specified period, all operators will be subject to a 10 fish bycatch limit. 

To help fishers plan activities, information on the catch against the trigger limit is now available on the AFMA website and is updated weekly. 

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