Formed 1992 (1992) | Employees 197 (2015) | |
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Parent department Department of Agriculture | ||
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is the Australian Government statutory agency responsible for the management and sustainable use of fisheries resources and for combating illegal fishing activities in Australian waters (Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone). The agency is responsible for all 8,148,250 square kilometres of Australia's fishing zone, the third largest in the world.
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History
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority was established in February 1992 and its operations are governed by the Australian Fisheries Administration Act 1991 and Fisheries Management Act 1991. These laws created a statutory authority model for fisheries management.
The agency is a sub-agency to the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Current responsibilities
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority manages Commonwealth fisheries that are typically within the 200-nautical-mile (370 km) Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ), on the high seas, and, in some cases, by agreement with other Australian States to the low water mark.
The agency is also responsible for combating illegal fishing in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone including the waters between Australia and Indonesia and in the Southern Ocean and the Australian territories of Ashmore and Cartier Islands and Heard Island and McDonald Islands. This activity is conducted with the assistance of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Australian Navy.
Agency structure
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority operates under the direction of a Commission and a Chief Executive Officer, who is also a Commissioner.
The Commission is responsible for domestic fisheries management while the Chief Executive Officer is responsible for foreign fisheries compliance, under direction from the Australian Government
All Commissioners, apart from the CEO, are appointed on a remunerated, part-time basis. The current Chair of the Commission is former previously Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum; Fisheries, Electoral Affairs (Minister for Justice – June 2012) and Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council The Hon Norman Moore.