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will offer a vast new "tuna
farming zone" for the fish farms. The focus for the industry
is now on maintaining and repairing pontoons and equipment
as the tuna fishermen wait for the next harvest of wild
tuna, which will take place in December.
Tuna industry spokesman Brian
Jeffriess said this year’s record earnings were due to
strong demand generated by improved product quality.
Another highlight this season
was the very low mortality rate of about two per cent,
thanks to both cooler water temperatures and improved
farming practices.
Speaking from a Tuna Boat
Owners Association meeting over the weekend, Mr Jeffriess
said companies were now working out fishing and quota
strategies for next season as well as working out how best
to take advantage of the new water made available.
The South Australian
Government has released a new aquaculture policy for the
region that proposes to cap the total of tonnage of finfish
production at 9,200 tonnes, which is close to the current
total production of the tuna farms.
That tonnage is reached by
fattening Australia’s SBT quota of just over 5,000 tonnes.
But the policy creates a new
17,225-hectare "tuna zone" out in Spencer Gulf’s deeper
water, which is exactly what the tuna industry wanted to
continue to lower its stocking densities.
In other industry-related
developments, the
Commission for the Conservation of
Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) was scheduled to
meet on 15 October to discuss quotas, but Mr Jeffriess said
it was "highly unlikely" that the Australian quota would be
increased.
Finally, the
Australian Fisheries Management
Authority (AFMA) had received all the submissions
regarding its review of the SBT industry, Mr Jeffriess said.
And he said the industry held
out hope that authorities would take into account concerns
such as adapting the rules to allow companies to release of
excess fish, the industry’s opposition to the authority’s
interest on placing its own quota on the industry and the
authority’s demand for extra observers at sea.
By Stan Gorton
FIS.com |
