This October, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority is reminding Commonwealth fishing operators about the importance of completing their logbooks correctly.
The data collected in Commonwealth commercial fishery logbooks provides AFMA with information integral for making fisheries management decisions.
Dishonest reporting is not only a breach of permit conditions, but it can have consequences on catch limits in future fishing seasons and impact all fishers, even those doing the right thing.
AFMA’s fisheries officers routinely conduct port visits and inspections to ensure operators understand and comply with Commonwealth fishing rules and regulations. During an AFMA inspection, fisheries officers will check that operators have correctly recorded:
- discards
- fishing trip dates
- bycatch and threatened, endangered and protected (TEP) species interactions
- shot location matching vessel monitoring system (VMS) and electronic monitoring data
Misreporting is fraud and illegal, those who are caught face fines, suspension and/or prosecution.
Help ensure the ecological and economic sustainability of all Commonwealth fisheries by ALWAYS recording your catch accurately.
For more information visit afma.gov.au.