Ensuring sustainable fishing of Australia’s stocks
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has deemed four New Zealand-flagged vessels as Australian boats to undertake fishing for a limited period this winter.
Three of these vessels are targeting blue grenadier in Commonwealth waters off the west coast of Tasmania and the other is targeting Eastern Zone orange roughy in Commonwealth waters off the east coast of Tasmania.
These boats have been deemed under Part 1, subsection 4(1) and 4(2) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (FMA) and will depart Australian waters no later than 30 September.
These New Zealand-flagged vessels have fishing capabilities not present currently in the Australian domestic trawl fleet, such as the ability to process and freeze product at sea. Allowing them to fish for these short periods helps to maximise the benefits to Australia of sustainably fishing our resources.
All four vessels are undertaking either hull-mounted or towed-body acoustic biomass surveys in collaboration with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) scientists. Results from these surveys are key independent data sources for the next stock assessment for each species, both of which are scheduled for 2025. The in-kind contribution to AFMA’s research to support the sustainable harvest of the Eastern Zone orange roughy stock alone is in excess of $250 thousand dollars.
All four vessels are required to carry AFMA observers while fishing in Australian waters and each observer is collecting biological data that will also be used in the 2025 stock assessments of blue grenadier and Eastern Zone orange roughy, respectively.
The activities of these four vessels will contribute to the Tasmanian economy through operational purchases, such as re-provisioning supplies, as well as cold storage access. Substantial lease costs for quota and licences will also be paid to Australian fishing businesses.
Blue grenadier is a deep-water species that occurs on the continental slope in southern Australian waters. When last assessed in 2022, the spawning biomass of blue grenadier was 124 per cent of the original biomass, meaning that the population is bigger now than it was before fishing started, and more than double the target reference point for this species.
The combined catch target for the three deemed vessels targeting blue grenadier this year is approximately 10,000 tonnes, around 53 per cent of the 18,899 tonnes total allowable catch for this species during the current season. The operators of the vessels targeting blue grenadier both have Marine Stewardship Council certification for the harvest of this species, which is an independent, third-party sustainability accreditation.
Around half of the blue grenadier caught in Australian waters by the deemed vessels will be unloaded as frozen product in either Burnie or Hobart, providing benefits for local logistics and refrigerated storage companies.
Orange roughy is a deep-water fish that occurs in southern Australian waters. This species is slow growing, slow to mature, and long lived. These traits, combined with overfishing in the late 1980s and early 1990s, resulted in this species being listed as ‘conservation dependent’ under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
Under the EPBC Act, species listed as conservation dependent can be fished under specific circumstances, including a requirement to have a robust rebuilding strategy in place.
Under careful management, supported by expert scientific assessment and advice from CSIRO, Eastern Zone orange roughy has already rebuilt to 30 per cent of its original biomass. This is well above the limit reference point of 20 per cent, and expert scientific advice is that the stock will continue to rebuild under the allowable level of harvest.
One New Zealand vessel is fishing for Eastern Zone orange roughy this season and has leased in quota owned by Australian companies equivalent to 800 tonnes. This equates to around 60 per cent of this season’s 1,320 tonnes total allowable catch for this stock.
For more information:
Media: media@afma.gov.au or 0437 869 860
www.afma.gov.au