Eastern Tuna & Billfish Fishery (ETBF)
The Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery extends from Cape York in Queensland to the South Australian/Victorian border.
Fishing occurs in both the Australian Fishing Zone and adjacent high seas.
The fishery is managed by limiting the catch of tuna and billfish species, restricting how many boats can fish and regulating what gear they can use.
Tuna and billfish caught in this fishery are highly migratory and swim over large distances and between different countries.
To access this fishery, fishers need to hold statutory fishing rights allocated by AFMA.
Data about the catch and effort of the fishery is collected from the logbooks fishers have to fill out for every longline fishing shot. Logbooks record:
the species and amount caught
the catch that is discarded
the catch/release of any protected species and their life status
the time and location of fishing activities
the type and amount of gear used.
Species sustainability is assessed every three years by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission scientific committee with contributions from Australian scientists from ABARES and CSIRO.
For further information on the fishery, visit the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) website.
Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery (SBTF)
The Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery (longline) is fished and managed in a similar way to the Eastern and Western Tuna and Billfish Fisheries.
The notable exception is that the Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery covers the entire sea area around Australia, out to 200 nautical miles from the coast.
The fishery is managed internationally by the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna made up of eight participating member countries, including Australia.
The commission sets an annual total allowable catch limit for each member country and AFMA applies Australia’s total allowable catch limit each year to our commercial Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery.