100th AFMA Commission Meeting - Chair's Summary

The Commission convened for its 100th meeting in Canberra on 11 and 12 November 2025.

As the meeting coincided with Remembrance Day, the Commission observed a minute's silence as a sign of respect and reflection.

Commissioners noted the significant milestone represented by the 100th meeting and celebrated the achievement with Canberra-based AFMA staff.

Stakeholder Engagement

The Commission considered written updates from the Great Australian Bight Industry Association (GABIA), Northern Prawn Fishery Industry (NPFI), the Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association and the Scallop Fisherman's Association of Tasmania. The Commission welcomed the first written update provided by the Commonwealth Fisheries Association (CFA), and the resumption of reporting by SESSF industry associations (SSIA, SETFIA and SPF client group). The Commission continues to place a high value on these updates to provide operational context to its deliberations. In several cases the information raised was relevant to agenda items for this or upcoming meetings or brought issues to the attention of the Commission for future advice from AFMA Management, industry, MACs and RAGs.

Management Arrangements in the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF)

The Commission welcomed an opportunity to meet with NPF Industry Board members (David Carter, Norm Peovitis, Phil Robson and Greg Albert,) and CEO (Annie Jarret). Noting that the Commission had previously consulted with NPFI, including receiving written updates of various member positions and Commissioners had observed several meetings of the Northern Prawn Management Advisory Committee, Commissioners sought to focus discussion on the longer-term outlook for the fishery. While all industry participants acknowledged that 2024 and 2025 were poor seasons for a range of issues, industry representatives held different views as to the cause of those issues, their significance for the future and the most appropriate course of action.

Following its meeting with NPF Industry Board representatives, the Commission discussed at length the information received throughout this process. The Commission noted that it had been actively considering this matter over its past three meetings, had met with NPFI on a number of occasions, sought opinion from non-NPFI members, received advice from both NPFRAG and NORMAC, as well as insights from CSIRO on the bioeconomic model and stock assessment. The Commission noted that NPFRAG has ongoing work to improve the stock assessment model.

The Commission further noted that industry was unable to reach an agreed position on future management arrangements but, given the agreed economic challenges faced by all operations over the past five years, industry were unanimous that the Commission needed to make a decision on future management arrangements before the upcoming fishing season to create more certainty for industry.

The Commission agreed that the fishery had been experiencing poor economic conditions since 2019 and that, while the performance of individual businesses differs, the overall economic outlook continued to look depressed.

The Commission focused its discussion on the following considerations:

• whether there was sufficient information to support a decision
• the likelihood that no change to management would produce an enduring economic outcome
• the likelihood that a reduction of 31% would produce an enduring economic outcome
• whether the 2026 stock assessment would produce an outcome material to the decision
• the likelihood that individual businesses currently have vessels operating at maximum efficiency and a decision to reduce the value of gear SFRS would produce differential impacts across the fleet, with some likely able to accommodate a reduction, while others would be reliant on SFR trading with associated transaction and investment costs
• the need to pursue the Fisheries Management Act 1991 objective of maximising net economic returns to the Australian community from the management of fisheries
• that all stocks remain above their limit reference points, but that the biomass of brown tiger prawns was below S_MSY
• that a decision for no change to management would potentially still result in fleet reduction, but through attrition and at a slower pace.

After considerable discussion, on balance, the Commission decided a 31% reduction in the headrope value of gear SFRs, implemented through a revised fishing capacity determination, prior to the start of the 2026 Tiger Prawn fishing season, would support achievement of the fishery's maximum economic yield.

Electronic Monitoring (EM) in the Western Deepwater Trawl (WDWTF) and North West Slope Trawl (NWSTF) Fisheries

The Commission considered and agreed to AFMA Management's recommendation to implement EM in the WDWTF and NWSTF as of 1 July 2026. The Commission discussed the outcomes of the 2024-25 EM trial, input from participating industry members, the objectives of implementation and experiences in other fisheries with existing EM programs, especially in relation to increased accuracy of logbook reporting of Endangered, Threatened and Protected species (ETPs).

The Commission noted support for the recommendation from active fishers in both fisheries.

Initially, the EM program will focus on verifying and improving logbook reporting of ETPs, but is expected to expand to improve estimates of discarded catch and contribute to collection of additional data. The Commission also noted that the projected cost is substantially lower than the current level of observer coverage.

AFMA remains committed to minimising the cost of the EM and supplementary data collection programs and using them to drive greater flexibility for industry.

Total Allowable Catches

Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) Fishery

The Commission agreed to determine the:

• a) next fishing season in the SBT Fishery to be 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2026;
• b) Australia's National Catch Allocation (ANCA) for the fishing season, to be 6,930.25 tonnes;
• c) Actual Live Weight (ALW) of an SFR for the fishing season defined to be 1.30159668 kilograms.
• d) percentage of undercatch for the fishing season defined in a) above to be:
  • i. 20%, if the total commercial catch in the fishery for the season is less than the effective commercial catch limit minus 20% of ANCA for that season; or
  • ii. 100%, if the total commercial catch in the fishery for the season is greater than or equal to the effective commercial catch limit minus 20% of ANCA for that season.
• e) overcatch percentage to be five per cent;
• f) overcatch amount to be 100 tonnes; and
• g) overcatch additional weight to be 2 tonnes.

These arrangements are consistent with the provisions in place for the 2024-25 fishing season. The Commission noted that there are ongoing processes that will shape decisions for future seasons including:

• Continued positive rebuilding of the stock, which is expected to result in the Commission for Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna considering an increase to the global Total Allowable Catch in October 2026.
• Ongoing discussions within industry on the most appropriate arrangements for managing undercaught quota into the future.

Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) Fishery

The Commission considered and agreed the TACs, as set out below.

Target species:

• Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides): 2,119 tonnes
• Mackerel Icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari): 1,427 tonnes

Bycatch Species:

• Macrourus Caml and M. whitsoni: 409 tonnes
• M. holotrachys and M. carinatus: 360 tonnes
• Unicorn Icefish (Channichthys rhinoceratus): 1,663 tonnes
• Skates and Rays (Bathyraja spp.): 120 tonnes
• Grey Rockcod (Lepidonotothen squamifrons): 80 tonnes
• All other species: 50 tonnes (for each species)

In addition, the Commission agreed to:

• Determine a 25.5% minimum quota holding for the trawl method in the fishery for the next five years to regulate the maximum number of trawl vessels as set out in the Management Plan.
• Set a research catch allowance of 1 tonne of Patagonian Toothfish and 2 tonnes of Mackerel Icefish to account for catch that may be taken by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) in its 2026 research voyage to HIMI.

In making its decision, the Commission noted with appreciation that work between AAD, AFMA and CSIRO to review and revise the Patagonian Toothfish stock assessment was well received at the recent meetings of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources.

Macquarie Island Toothfish Fishery (MITF)

The Commission considered and agreed the TACs, as set out below for the 2026-2027 fishing year, commencing on 15 April 2026 and ending on 14 April 2027, and for the 2027-28 fishing year, commencing on 15 April 2027 and ending on 14 April 2028:

Target species

1. Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides): 404 tonnes

Bycatch species

1. Each of the other species (other than Patagonian Toothfish): 50 tonnes

Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery (ETBF)

The Commission recalled that it had agreed (meeting 96) to Total Allowable Catches for Yellowfin, Bigeye and Albacore Tuna that would apply for the 2026 and 2027 fishing seasons. However, the Commission also noted that AFMA Management had sought advice from the Tropical Tuna Resource Assessment Group (TTRAG) and Topical Tuna Management Advisory Committee (TTMAC) on a case for increasing the TAC for Yellowfin Tuna. TTRAG and TTMAC supported a 20% increase to the Yellowfin TAC based on a submission by Tuna Australia.

The Commission considered the advice from TTRAG and TTMAC and agreed that increasing the Yellowfin Tuna TAC would create additional opportunity for industry to manage and capitalise on periods of higher abundance, support industry development and potentially assist to manage discarding. Importantly, the Commission also accepted advice that an increased Yellowfin TAC would be consistent with Australia's international obligations and would not raise sustainability concerns locally or regionally. The Commission agreed to a Yellowfin Tuna TAC for the 2026 and 2027 fishing seasons of 2,880 tonnes.

The Commission expressed concern about higher-than-normal levels of discarding in 2024 and 2025. In particular, the Commission was disappointed with anecdotal reports that discarding in 2025 was high grading based on an expectation of higher market prices later in the year. The Commission expects that the additional quota available through the TAC increase will result in a decrease of such practices. The Commission directed AFMA Management to closely monitor discards in 2026 to assess this trend. If the TAC increase does not result in significantly lower discards, the Commission will consider supplementary measures, such as full retention or covering discards with quota.

The Commission also agreed to the following TACs for the 2026 fishing year

Update on EM expansion

The Commission noted that roll-out of EM to new fisheries is underway, via an open tender process to establish a panel of approved suppliers that industry can consider for service provision. AFMA has commenced detailed consultation with operators in the NPF and CTS about vessel installation plans in anticipation of the tender process being completed soon.

The Commission welcomed an update on AFMA's internalisation of footage review, which is progressing well. The Commission noted that the confluence of a near-complete CSIRO Artificial Intelligence algorithm and the new software development is already showing potential to reduce footage review time in the ETBF by a significant proportion. The Commission expressed its strong support for continued enhancement to reduce cost and increase quality of footage review and the resulting data.

The Commission also welcomed AFMA's efforts to encourage other jurisdictions to cooperate with AFMA's program rather than developing bespoke EM systems and processes.

AFMA's Climate Risk Framework (CRF)

The Commission approved the detailed implementation plan for the CRF. Commissioners reiterated their praise for the CRF and the implementation plan, noting the huge body of work it represents. The Commission encouraged AFMA to promote the CRF to other jurisdictions as a leading example of the incorporation of climate change impacts in fisheries assessment to inform decision-making. The Commission recommended that AFMA consider engaging specifically with relevant environmental NGOs to demonstrate the proactive and precautionary nature of the CRF as a solid example of AFMA's responsible stance on management decision-making. The Commission also encouraged the AFMA team to seek broad stakeholder understanding of and buy-in to the CRF using opportunities such as Seafood Directions.

Meeting with Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)

The Commission welcomed the opportunity to meet with senior executives from DAFF (Matt Lowe, Sarah-Jane McCormack and George Day). The meeting provided opportunity for useful information sharing and exchange of views on areas of mutual interest.

The review of the Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy and Bycatch Policies was discussed in some detail, noting that the review report is nearing finalisation for Ministerial consideration. Commissioners were supportive of ongoing collaboration between DAFF and AFMA on the key outstanding elements, especially a policy framework to guide responses to non-recovering species.

Commissioners noted that the AFMA CRF provides useful quantification of the respective role of climate and fishing mortality on the status and vulnerability of species, and this is likely to be a critical component of such a policy framework.

AFMA funding and regulatory approach

The Commission considered three critical elements that will shape AFMA's future:

• AFMA's current performance in terms of both using available resources at maximum efficiency and AFMA's performance in terms of engaging with risk in making key fisheries management decisions.
• Opportunities for greater resourcing sustainability in the short and long term, including through additional efficiency and opportunities for additional revenue, including through the current Portfolio Charging Review.
• Potential regulatory approaches to improve management performance and support industry productivity in line with government priorities.

Commissioners welcomed the discussion and offered full support in continuing to explore these issues, including in collaboration with other agencies, jurisdictions and stakeholders. In particular, the Commission suggested that this discussion be the basis of upcoming engagements with the CFA.

AFMA Economic Information

The Commission appreciated the comprehensive assessment conducted by AFMA Management of the quota price information held by AFMA. The Commission noted that the reliable data can be powerful in informing management discussions and decisions, but that care was required noting the concerns on the nature and magnitude of the data. In that regard, the Commission noted that there would likely be a difference between the specificity of analyses that AFMA would consider for internal purposes compared to broader information products that should be made available to RAGs and the Economic Working Group (EWG). The Commission noted that the EWG would meet in late November to consider this work and looked forward to receiving subsequent advice.

Ecological Risk Management Working Group (ERMWG)

Commissioners were pleased to note that progress has been made between AFMA and CSIRO on addressing some of the methodological and process issues that have been experienced in the finalisation of recent Ecological Risk Assessments and looked forward to receiving the outcomes of the upcoming meeting of the ERMWG.

AFMA Research Committee (ARC)

The Commission welcomed the report of recent ARC meetings, particularly the joint meeting with RAG Chairs, noting that this session continues to grow in value.

Next meeting

The Commission agreed that its next meeting would be held on 11 and 12 March 2026. The Commission requested that the CEO work with the CFA to identify the most suitable location.

Helen Kroger

Chair