Fisheries Home

Fisheries – supporting sustainable fishing and aquaculture industries

Australia has the world’s third largest fishing zone, extending up to 200 nautical miles out to sea. Despite this size, Australian waters tend not to be as productive as those in many regions, and Australia ranks only 52nd in the world in terms of volume of fish landed. Although the overall amount of fish products caught may be relatively low, Australia’s fisheries production focuses on high value export species such as lobsters, prawn, tuna, salmon and abalone. Australia’s commercial fishing and aquaculture industry is worth over $2 billion annually and employs around 16 000 people (9 700 directly and 6 200 indirectly) (ABARES 2010). The challenge is to promote a profitable and competitive fishing industry while ensuring the sustainability of Australia’s marine ecosystem.

Australia’s Commonwealth, state and territory governments manage fisheries on behalf of the Australian people in consultation with the fishing industry, scientists, economists and other user groups, such as those that represent traditional fishing, recreational fishing and the environmental non–government organisations. These management processes are used to implement controls, such as limits on catch or effort levels, and regulations of fishing methods in order to manage Australia’s fisheries in a sustainable way.

In very general terms, state/territory laws apply to coastal waters (up to 3 nautical miles) and Commonwealth laws apply from those waters out to the limit of the Australian fishing zone (200 nautical miles).However, offshore constitutional settlement (OCS) arrangements have been developed in many cases which provide jurisdiction for a particular species, area or fishing method to the Commonwealth or states/Northern Territory irrespective of distance from shore.

The Commonwealth has generally limited its jurisdiction to commercial fishing with the state/territory fisheries department’s assuming responsibility for recreational fishing.

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is responsible for the operational management of Commonwealth fisheries. For further information regarding these fisheries visit the AFMA website.

The reviews of the Commonwealth Policy on Fisheries Bycatch and the Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and Guidelines

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) is leading separate but coordinated reviews of the Commonwealth Policy on Fisheries Bycatch (2000) (bycatch policy) and the Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and Guidelines (2007) (harvest strategy policy). Both policies are central to the sustainability of Australia’s Commonwealth fisheries. The reviews are being conducted at the same time to consider how the effects of fishing on all species might be addressed through the fisheries policy framework.

On 9 November 2012 DAFF released two consultation papers for public comment, one for each policy review. These papers were developed to promote discussion and feedback on issues relevant to the policies which may require refinement, elaboration or further development. Interested members of the public were invited to contribute to the reviews by providing separate written submissions to either review. The public consultation period for these reviews closed on 21 December 2012.

The review of the bycatch policy seeks to improve the management of bycatch in Commonwealth fisheries by developing a revised policy framework intended to avoid, minimise and manage bycatch that is practical, cost effective to apply and supports environmental and fisheries legislative requirements. More information on the bycatch policy review is available online.

The harvest strategy policy is the major Australian Government policy for the harvest of commercial species in Commonwealth fisheries. Harvest strategies developed under the policy are designed to ensure that key commercial fish stocks are maintained at ecologically sustainable levels and to maximise economic returns to the community. More information on the review of the harvest strategy policy review is available online.