Four New Zealand fishing vessels are deemed Australian for a limited period for the current winter fishing season, and will be required to leave Australian waters no later than 30th September.
Three of these vessels are targeting blue grenadier in Commonwealth waters off the west coast of Tasmania and the fourth is fishing Eastern Zone orange roughy in Commonwealth waters east of Tasmania.
The reason the Australian authorities have allowed fishing capacity from outside the country in is that these NZ-flagged trawlers are equipped to process and freeze catches at sea, capacity which is not available within the Australian domestic fleet.
‘Allowing them to fish for these short periods helps to maximise the benefits to Australia of sustainably fishing our resources,’ stated a representative of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA)
All four vessels are undertaking either hull-mounted or towed-body acoustic biomass surveys in collaboration with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) scientists.
Results from these surveys are key independent data sources for the next stock assessment for each species, both of which are scheduled for 2025. The in-kind contribution to AFMA’s research to support the sustainable harvest of the Eastern Zone orange roughy stock alone is in excess of $250 thousand dollars.
All four vessels are required to carry AFMA observers while fishing in Australian waters and each observer is collecting biological data that will also be used in the 2025 stock assessments of blue grenadier and Eastern Zone orange roughy, respectively.
The activities of these four vessels will contribute to the Tasmanian economy through operational purchases, such as re-provisioning supplies, as well as cold storage access. Substantial lease costs for quota and licences will also be paid to Australian fishing businesses.
When last assessed in 2022, the spawning biomass of blue grenadier was 124% of the original biomass, meaning that the population is bigger now than it was before fishing started, and more than double the target reference point for this species.
The combined catch target for the three vessels targeting blue grenadier this year is approximately 10,000 tonnes, around 53% of the 18,899-tonnes season TAC.
Around half of the blue grenadier caught in Australian waters by these vessels will be discharged as frozen product in either Burnie or Hobart.
Previously over-exploited, with careful management and scientific advice from CSIRO, Eastern Zone orange roughy has already rebuilt to 30% of its original biomass. This is well above the limit reference point of 20%, and expert scientific advice is that the stock will continue to rebuild under the allowable level of harvest.
One New Zealand vessel is fishing for Eastern Zone orange roughy this season and has leased in quota owned by Australian companies equivalent to 800 tonnes. This equates to around 60% of this season’s 1320 tonnes TAC for this stock.
