Employment in Australian fisheries and aquaculture

Annual employment estimates

Shows that in 2021–22 the number of people employed in the fishing, hunting and trapping sector and the aquaculture sector combined was 17,000 people, of which the fishing, hunting and trapping sector employed 10,00 people and the aquaculture sector employed 7,000 people.

 

Shows the historic trend in employment between 2006–07 and 2021–22 in the fishing, hunting and trapping sector and the aquaculture sector. In 2006–07 the fishing, hunting and trapping sector employed 16,000 people, steadily decreasing to 10,000 people in 2021–22. Employment in the aquaculture sector was 7,000 people in 2006–07 and 2021–22, with fluctuation over time.

Estimates from 2021 Census 

Table 2 Estimated employment in the Australian commercial fishing and aquaculture industry, 2021 a
Category NSW Vic. Qld SA WA Tas. NT ACT Aust. b
(no.) (no.) (no.) (no.) (no.) (no.) (no.) (no.) (no.)
Aquaculture
Onshore aquaculture 135 99 359 74 92 96 54 0 912
Offshore longline and rack aquaculture 627 17 106 254 174 911 139 0 2,227
Offshore caged aquaculture 122 27 69 70 9 978 0 0 1,272
Aquaculture, nfd 124 171 167 152 99 236 20 0 976
Total 1,008 314 701 550 374 2,221 213 0 5,387
Fishing
Rock Lobster and Crab potting 32 37 87 175 538 144 10 0 1,018
Prawn fishing 48 9 162 66 46 0 17 0 345
Line fishing 4 6 14 22 0 0 0 0 46
Fish trawling, seining and netting 3 7 22 21 4 5 0 0 63
Other fishing 57 59 19 97 105 82 4 7 436
Fishing, nfd 738 288 735 464 414 192 92 4 2,929
Total 882 406 1,039 845 1,107 423 123 11 4,837
Fishing, hunting and trapping, nfd 28 21 24 18 14 3 7 0 109
Processing and wholesaling
Seafood processing 280 258 246 252 200 348 8 0 1,586
Fish and seafood wholesaling 650 601 559 168 368 109 21 3 2,487
Total 930 859 805 420 568 457 29 3 4,073
Grand total 2,854 1,592 2,562 1,827 2,069 3,108 384 19 14,408

a Industries are consistent with the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) 2006 (Trewin and Pink 2006).

b Total national employment in commercial fishing and aquaculture industries includes a small number of persons employed in external territories of Australia. As the ABS randomly adjusts some small values published in the Census of Population and Housing to avoid release of confidential data, total national employment may be different from combined state and territory employment, and total industry employment may be different from combined category employment. The ABS advises that no reliance should be put on small cells.

nfd Not further defined.

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