Fishing industry proposes roughy management
Previous newsletter articles have explained how CSIRO’s acoustic optical system (AOS) surveys have found 30-48,000 tonnes of orange roughy on two hills east of Tasmania. Based on this, and within the context of the fishery’s harvest strategy, the AFMA Commission has now set the eastern roughy total allowable catch (TAC) at 465 tonnes and the […]
Did shortened nets reduce seal interactions?
In March last year the newsletter reported on a project that aimed to reduce seal interactions with trawlers. The project was supported by AFMA through funding from the Australian Government and ExxonMobil Australia. Reducing the chance of seal interactions is a logical step for the fishery which is actively working to improve its sustainability. Seals […]
Noose tightens on dodgy fish sellers
The Association applauds industry leaders Con and Theodore Patsiotis, from the Australian Seafood Fish and Chippery in North Coburg who have publically called for country of origin labelling laws for cooked fish. The Australian Seafood Fish and Chippery was recently ranked as one Melbourne’s top 10 fish and chip shops. There are already laws in […]
Lessons on marine parks from the Great Barrier Reef
In 2004, the Australian and Queensland governments increased protection of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) closing 117,000 km2 of the reef to commercial fishing inside the Great Barrier Reef marine park. A report by four fisheries scientists explains that the Australian and Queensland governments supported the creation of the parks in the belief that the […]
Noose tightens on dodgy fish retailers
15 February 2015. For immediate release. The South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association (SETFIA) welcomes the article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald in which Fish and Chip industry leaders Con and Theodore Patsiotis, from the Australian Seafood Fish and Chippery in North Coburg, called for country of origin labelling laws for cooked fish. The Australian […]
A glass house called accountability and reforms Australia desperately needs
In undertaking a 2014 Nuffield Scholarship I have so far traveled to seventeen countries researching resource management practices, commercial fishing techniques and the legislative processes in place that govern the two. These three things are linked when considering how best to regulate an industry that extracts from a self-replenishing resource to ensure that extraction never […]
$25m to develop Port of Eden
Eden is an important port in the South-East Trawl Fishery. However, south-west gales cause significant damage to recreational and commercial vessels in the port. Recognising this, the NSW State Government, Commonwealth Government and Bega Valley Shire Council have announced they will spend $25m on a wave attenuator, the extension of the breakwater wharf for cruise […]
NZ orange roughy fishery seeks 3rd party sustainability certification
Three of New Zealand’s orange roughy fisheries have entered the lengthy and rigorous Marine Stewardship Council sustainability assessment process. New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industry and the industry association the Deepwater Group have been working together for the past ten years to better manage and rebuild the orange roughy stocks, and are now looking to […]
Living fossil captured
The frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) gains its name from its six pairs of frill like gills. It is one of two remaining species of this ancient family which dates back 80 million years. It has a wide but patchy distribution in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on the outer and upper continental slope, generally near the […]
A+ for large trawlers in the small pelagic fishery
Two years after the Ministers of Environment and Fisheries imposed a temporary ban on the use of large scale freezer trawlers in the SPF, an Expert Panel has produced a report that gives a cautious green light to fishing. The Panel found that these vessels should be managed in a precautionary, risk-based way – effectively […]