June 11, 2021 โ Australian maritime operatives intercepted 19 Indonesian vessels in a two-week period in May through โOperation Jawline,โ an operation coordinated by the Maritime Border Command (MBC) โ a joint agency task force within the Australian Border Force (ABF) โ with close involvement from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA).
The vessels were all believed to be illegally fishing in Australiaโs Northern waters.
October 1, 2018 โ Commonwealth fisheries in Australia, the Southern Ocean and the south Pacific managed by Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) have been assessed as not subject to overfishing.
It is the fifth year in a row the fisheries, which include fisheries for southern bluefin tuna, toothfish, skipjack tuna, billfish, scale fish, squid and shark, have been been declared free from overfishing.
The assessments reported by Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) in its status reports 2018, assessed 95 species that are either solely or jointly managed by AFMA.
AFMAโs CEO, James Findlay, said the result is a credit to the Australian seafood industry, scientists and fisheries managers.
Read the full story at Undercurrent News
July 7, 2017 โ Fisheries ministers from countries belonging to the Forum Fisheries Agency are meeting in Australia this week to discuss the future of tuna fisheries under increasing pressure from overfishing.
The 17-member FFA helps to manage fisheries in the Pacific Ocean, with specific emphasis on the marine economic zones of Pacific Island countries. It provides strategic fisheries management advice on the management of fish stocks, monitoring, and surveillance of fishing activities and trade and market access for its members.
Australiaโs assistant minister for agriculture and water resources, Anne Ruston, opened the 14th Forum Fisheries Committee Ministerial Meeting in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia by pledging in-depth conversations on the sustainable management of fisheries in the Pacific, particularly tuna fisheries.
โIn 2015, the global tuna catch was valued at around USD 4.8 billion (EUR 4.2 billion) and almost half of this was caught in the waters of Forum Fisheries Agency member nations, including Australia,โ Ruston said. โThese tuna fisheries are an important economic resource for Pacific Island nations and it is vital for the future of these nations that they are managed sustainably.
Ruston said hoped the meeting could help create an outline for the FFAโs agenda for the next year, including priorities for the 14th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, according to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.
January 31, 2017 โ It has been a lucrative season for commercial scallop operators in Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania.
At the end of December, 12 vessels had hauled in $3 million worth of scallops, one of the industryโs most productive seasons in 15 years.
The fisheryโs total allowable catch (TAC) was set at 3,000 tonnes, and the vessels used about 95 per cent of that quota.
Australian Fisheries Management Authority southern manager Brigid Kerrigan said the industry had had the option to land a much larger scallop catch.
January 3, 2017 โ The sea and sky are dark. One fades into the other. The bright deck lights of a foreign fishing boat are the only horizon reference. Roughly 70-feet in length, at two miles away, the boat appears as a dot. โSet LE Phase 1,โ rings out over the 1MC, the shipโs on board intercom system.
Iโm aboard the mighty warship Sequoia, a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender homeported in Apra Harbor, Guam โ Americaโs westernmost territory. Out in the Philippine Sea, standing on the buoy deck I can feel the ship roll gently under my feet as we transit toward the fishing boat.
Itโs 2000 hours, the sun has long since set, but I can still feel residual heat from the metal decks and bulkheads of the ship radiate up at me. The moist sea air wraps around me in a wet bear hug, and I can feel my body armor secured over my t-shirt cling to me. Droplets of sweat escape from my hairline under my helmet. Weโve been over the plan, briefed the evolution, attempted to hail the vessel master in Mandarin and English, done our risk analysis to assess complexity and overall safety, and now itโs time to go.
The sound of the water is interrupted by the unmistakable mechanical hums and chirps of outboard engines. The cutterโs small boat, piloted by a boatswainโs mate, comes alongside the buoy deck prepared to take us aboard and transport us to the fishing boat.
One by one the boarding team goes over the side: four Coast Guard members and an Australian Fisheries Management Authority officer; Lydia Woodhouse. The ship is running nearly dark. A faint red glow can be seen on the bridge. The running lights of the small boat wink at me red and green. Itโs my turn. Senior Chief Petty Officer Ryan Petty, who runs the deck force, stands next to the Jacobโs ladder. A flashlight in his hand with a red lens lights the flat orange rungs of the ladder as they knock against the black hull and leads to the water and the small boat more than 10 feet below.
I step gingerly onto a bitt on Sequoiaโs deck just below the gunwale, adjacent to where the ladder is secured. I heave myself over the side and onto the ladder, a vice-like grip on the top of the gunwale. โSnaps, over the side!โ calls Petty into his radio up to the bridge. The small boat rises and falls with the swell beneath my feet. Nearly to the bottom, the boat drops just as I let go of the ladder. The hand of a boat crewman and engineer, Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott Peterson, grabs the loop of my backpack. โSnaps in the boat,โ calls Petty.
As I move to the side and take a seat on the sponson, I hear: โSemper Fi over the side. Semper Fi in the boat.โ Lance Cpl. Brian Martin, our Mandarin Chinese speaking linguist, takes a seat next to me in his Marine Corps fatigues, bright orange lifejacket and helmet. With our team assembled, we depart from Sequoia and head toward the light on the horizon.
November 16, 2016 โ The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) Commission said it did not support an increase in the total allowable catch (TAC) increase of yellowfin tuna proposed at a recent meeting.
The proposal, from the Tropical Tuna Management Advisory Committee (TTMAC), would have hiked the total allowable catch (TAC) over-catch allowance, enabling commercial fishermen to bring in yellowfin tuna above the current limits during the remainder of the 2016-17 season.
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