International fisheries obligations have come into effect following acceptance of the Fisheries Management (International Agreements) Regulations 2009 (the Regulations) by the Governor-General at the meeting of the Executive Council on 16 April 2015.
The regulations implement Australia’s obligations as a member of the following international fisheries management organisations (IFMOs):
- the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
- the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)
- the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC)
- the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT)
- the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO)
- the South Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA).
The IFMOs meet each year to review current management practices, and to adopt conservation and management measures, or to revise existing measures, aimed at ensuring the sustainable fishing of migratory and shared fish stocks. Countries that are members of IFMOs, and the operators of their fishing boats, must comply with the measures. The updated regulations reflect any updated requirements of these measures such as:
- clarifying reporting requirements and area restrictions that apply when fishing or conducting research in the CCAMLR Area
- incorporating WCPFC requirements to ensure that bigeye, yellowfin and skipjack tuna stocks are maintained at sustainable levels
- requiring cetaceans, whale sharks and other shark species that are caught in the IOTC area to be released unharmed, to the extent possible and reported
- implementing a CCSBT Catch Documentation Scheme that requires a person to tag southern bluefin tuna and provide a catch tagging form to the flag state
- prohibiting vessels operating in the SPRFMO Area from using deep-water gillnets or fishing with bottom gear outside their bottom fishing footprint.
The regulations impose no additional requirements on operators who are authorised to fish under a Commonwealth fishing concession but enable AFMA to prosecute, in certain circumstances:
- the operator of an Australian boat for fishing in the waters of a foreign country
- the operator of an Australian boat for fishing for a fish stock covered by an IFMO when it is not authorised by AFMA to do so
- an Australian national who uses a foreign boat to fish in breach of a prescribed measure
- the operator of a foreign boat on the high seas for fishing in breach of a prescribed measure.
The Regulations can be accessed on the Comlaw website at www.comlaw.gov.au.