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 implemented area closures from 1 May 2023.
South East Trawl Fishery structural adjustment package
To help support operators affected by management changes in the South East Trawl Fishery, the Australian Government delivered a structural adjustment program for the South East Trawl Fishery in 2022-23.
Up to $20 million was made available to purchase the surrender of boat Statutory Fishing Rights from fishing operators who wished to leave or downsize their operations.
The package also included $3 million over three years from 2022-23 to partially waive levies in the South East Trawl Fishery.
Program objective
The program aimed to provide financial support to commercial fishing operators as they adjust to the changes in the fishery. Reducing the size of the active fishing fleet is also expected to make the remaining commercial fishers more profitable and the fishery more ecologically sustainable.
Program outcome
The Australian Government purchased the surrender of 21 boat Statutory Fishing Rights through a limited tender process in May 2023. The tender was only open to holders of Commonwealth Trawl Boat Statutory Fishing Rights.