Tuna Cage Losses March 2003 - AFMA probes lost tuna incident
Submitted by SARFAC Wednesday, 5th March 2003
Reference : ABC News Tue, 4 Mar 2003 12:02 ACDT

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AMFA) says it is unsure whether tuna that escaped or died from an accident in South Australia last month will be replaced with more wild stocks. AFMA is investigating an incident involving a tow cage belonging to the Stehr Group involving about 6,000 of the lucrative fish.

AFMA says it is still unsure what happened and whether other fish can be caught to replace those lost. Meanwhile, the president of the Tuna Boat Owners Association, Brian Jeffriess, says he understands most of the fish escaped through a hole in the towing net and as a matter of principle should be allowed to be replaced.

Anglers asked to fish for a different type of catch
Submitted by SARFAC Wednesday, 5th March 2003
Reference : ABC News Saturday, March 1, 2003. Posted: 09:45:11 (AEDT)

South Australia's Recreational Fishing and Advisory Council is calling on anglers to fish rubbish out of the water tomorrow for Clean Up Australia Day. The council will launch a Codes of Conduct in late March or early April that recommends that anglers leave only footprints when they venture out into marine environments.

Executive officer Trevor Watts says attitudes toward waste disposal on boats have changed. "There's always that great temptation, I go back some 40 years ago to my naval career, it was always a big joke that the biggest ashtray is over the side but one can't say that these days, because that's not very responsible at all," he said.

Loss of AUD 6 million worth of tuna sparks investigation AUSTRALIA
Submitted by SARFAC Wednesday, 5th March 2003
Reference : FIS Wednesday, March 05, 2003, 00:00 (GMT + 9)

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is investigating the loss, and possible deaths, of 132 tonnes of southern bluefin tuna off South Australia's Port Lincoln.

The accident occurred when a large tow cage containing the haul broke. According to reports, a ring meant to keep the mesh nets open at the top collapsed, trapping the fish and preventing them from swimming and breathing freely. The South Australia Advertiser reports that the accident happened when the fish were being transported in tow cages belonging to the Stehr Group from the Great Australian Bight.

According to some sources, it is likely that the loss is high and that most of the estimated 5,000 fish in the net would have died.

The Stehr Group are unable to comment on the incident at this time due to legal process. AFMA said some of the dead fish have been recovered and would be tested to determine the cause of death. They also warned that confirmed kills would probably affect Australia's tuna quota for the season.

AFMA senior investigator John Andersen said the incident was serious. However, a spokesman for the Tuna Boat Owners Association, Brian Jeffriess, said the number of fish confirmed killed in the incident was "less than 45". "It was purely an accident and pretty much all the fish escaped into the wild," he said.

AFMA will seek to determine whether proper standards were maintained as the tuna were being towed. "We have a lot of avenues of inquiry that we must still complete," said Andersen. Had the tuna reached Port Lincoln, they would have been grown on by the Stehr Group for sale on the profitable Japanese market. South Australia's tuna industry is valued at AUD 304 million annually, with mature tuna fetching a set price of AUD 45,000 a tonne on maturity.