23/06/2017

Gail Richey has been awarded an AM in the General Division of the Order of Australia in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours Roll. Mrs Richey was recognised for her significant service over 30 years to the fishing and aquaculture industry, particularly in Tasmania, and to fisheries management and industry associations. Her achievements are extensive and span […]

21/06/2017

Ocean Oils is a Melbourne based bulk wholesale processing and refining company that extracts squalene fish oil from deepwater sharks.   Only the livers from a few shark species contain squalene oil.  There is strong consumer demand for the product because of the health benefits it provides. Ocean Oils Managing Director Richard Saul has explained that […]

18/05/2017

May has been a big month for the South East Trawl Fishery with 95% of the otter board trawl vessels installing bird bafflers.  Bird bafflers use brightly coloured droppers that hang off the metal boom arms and backbone of rope. The droppers are typically made from orange or red pipe hose or sometimes even rope.   There […]

08/05/2017

8 May 2017.  For immediate release. With the 2017-18 Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) fishing season starting last week, the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association (SETFIA) and the Great Australian Bight Industry Association (GABIA) are pleased to see the start of new seabird mitigation arrangements. Following an industry led initiative, the Australian […]

19/04/2017

The inaugural Board of Directors for Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) has been selected, marking a significant step towards the development of a new national peak body to represent all facets of Australia’s sustainable seafood industry. The Directors have seafood industry knowledge and networks across wild catch, aquaculture and post-harvest sectors and commercial experience in domestic […]

19/04/2017

AFMA has just released their draft cost recovered levy proposal for 2017.  The latest levies will be recovered under a new cost recovery policy called the AFMA Cost Recovery Implementation Statement 2017 (CRIS2017). AFMA propose to recover $2.8m from industry in 2017 which includes $62,000 from fee-for-service activities such as the cost of processing paper log […]

18/04/2017

Every year AFMA’s Fishery Commission sets Total Allowable Catches (TACs or “quotas”) in the trawl fishery.  These quotas are set based on stock sizes derived from scientific assessments.  Through something called a harvest strategy these quotas aim to manage fish stocks at a set level called maximum economic yield (MEY).  MEY maintains more fish in […]

14/03/2017

By Ross Winstanley* In a previous article I advocated for the interests of domestic seafood consumers to be considered alongside those of recreational, commercial and indigenous fishers when resource allocation decisions are made. I used the current Victorian Government’s phase-out of commercial net fishing in Port Phillip Bay as an example of what’s happening around […]