Participants in this year’s National Seafood Industry Leadership Program (NSILP) heard an in-depth overview of AFMA and its responsibilities from Ryan Murphy, Senior Manager, Policy, Environment and Research, Fisheries Management Branch, and Tod Spencer, Senior Manager, National Compliance Strategy, Fisheries Operations Branch. 

March of this year, Yang Wu (right), one of our Senior Fisheries Officers, secured a place in the government funded National Seafood Industry Leadership Program (NSILP). 

This is a statement of legal expenditure published by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) in compliance with the requirements mandated by paragraph 11.1(ba) of the Legal Services Directions of 2017, which directs that by 30 October each year, agencies must make publicly available records of the legal services expenditure for the previous financial year. Outlined below is a breakdown of the legal services expenditures by AFMA for the financial year 2022–23: Please note that all the figures provided are exclusive of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

As part of our capacity building effort in the Pacific, our International Compliance Operations, and Legal teams assisted in delivering the Certificate IV in Fisheries Compliance and Enforcement and competency-based assessments in in Suva, Fiji, in August 2023.   

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is reminding Commonwealth operators that Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) units must remain switched on at all times. Any vessel with its VMS system switched off, where the operator has not notified us, may be required to return to, or remain in port, until such time that we can investigate, and the issue is resolved. We understand that VMS units may need to be switched off for a range of reasons including placing the boat on the slip for maintenance or tying it up for a break.