Within the South East Trawl Fishery, stocks of several fish species have declined below sustainable limits and are not recovering. The South East Trawl Fishery is also known as the Commonwealth Trawl Sector of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery.
To protect fish stocks and halt species decline, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has lowered the allowable catch for at-risk species and will close large areas of the fishery from 1 May 2023.
These changes to the management of the fishery are necessary but might affect the economic viability of some operators within the fishery.
South East Trawl Fishery structural adjustment package
To help support these operators, the Australian Government is delivering a structural adjustment program for the South East Trawl Fishery in 2022-23.
Up to $20 million is available for the purchase of surrender of boat Statutory Fishing Rights from fishing operators who wish to leave or downsize their operations.
A further $3 million is available over three years from 2022-23 for AFMA to partially waive levies in the South East Trawl Fishery.
The government will purchase surrender of boat Statutory Fishing Rights in a restricted tender process in early 2023. The tender is only open to holders of Commonwealth Trawl Boat Statutory Fishing Rights.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry will contact Commonwealth Trawl Boat Statutory Fishing Right holders directly to provide further information about the process and how they can participate.
Program objective
The program aims to provide financial support to commercial fishing operators as they adjust to the changes in the fishery. A smaller active fishing fleet should make the remaining commercial fishers more profitable and the fishery more ecologically sustainable.
Questions and answers
In November 2022 the department visited ports in Lakes Entrance, Eden, Ulladulla, Wollongong and Sydney to provide further information to Commonwealth Trawl Boat Statutory Fishing Rights holders. Virtual meetings were also held in early December 2022 for those that could not attend in person. You can read the questions and answers from these meetings.
Further information
Any questions about this program can be emailed to SETrawl@aff.gov.au.