Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Total Allowable Catch for Quota Species) Determination 2025

The instrument relies on a small set of legal and fisheries-management concepts that determine its operation. First, it is a statutory determination of "total allowable catch" (TAC) for specified "quota species". The title and the operative provisions (s 6(2) and s 7(2) tables) identify species and fix TACs in tonnes. Second, the instrument distinguishes between TACs that apply to the "whole fishery" and TACs that apply to specified "parts of the area of the fishery" (s 6; s 7). The whole-fishery table addresses species-wide TACs; the parts-of-area table addresses species and TACs by named zones such as the Gemfish and deepwater shark eastern and western zones, the GAB Albany and GAB Esperance zones, Cascade Plateau, and the Orange roughy eastern, southern and western zones (s 7 table).

Third, the instrument prescribes a "preparation" basis for each TAC. For each species and zone the tables include a preparation column which specifies how the fish are to be measured for the purpose of the TAC: examples used include "Whole weight", "Trunked weight", and "Trunked, belly flaps removed" (s 6(2) table; s 7(2) table). This means that the unit of account for the TAC is not simply raw landed mass but mass measured after a specified preparation step.

Fourth, temporal delimitation is explicit: the determination applies to the 2025-26 fishing year, defined by the instrument as commencing on 1 May 2025 and ending on 30 April 2026 (s 6(1); s 7(1)). Separate procedural provisions set the instrument’s commencement (day after registration) and cessation (1 May 2026) dates (ss 2-3). Thus the legal validity of the measure is bounded and synchronised with a named fishing year.

Fifth, the instrument incorporates definitions by reference. Section 5 makes two express definition statements: it defines shorthand references to the Act and the Management Plan, and it states that any term used in the instrument that is defined for the purposes of the Management Plan has the same meaning in this instrument as it has in the Management Plan (s 5(1)-(2)). There is also a note that terms defined in the Act have the same meanings in this instrument (s 5 note). This concept of incorporation by reference is central to understanding who and what fall under the instrument’s effect and how key terms are to be read.

Finally, the instrument is made under delegated plan authority (subsection 11(1) of the Management Plan) for a specified subsection of the Act (paragraph 17(6)(aa)), indicating it is the product of powers granted by a management plan and an Act rather than primary legislation itself (s 4). The instrument’s mechanics therefore function within a wider statutory framework even though that framework’s operative provisions (allocation, enforcement, licensing) are not reproduced in the determination.

The instrument’s immediate legal object is the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery, as delimited by the Management Plan (title and s 5). The tables in sections 6 and 7 name species and zones; by fixing aggregate catch limits for those species and areas, the instrument affects the lawful maximum aggregate quantity of those species that may be taken within the fishery during the 2025-26 fishing year (s 6(1)-(2); s 7(1)-(2)). The text expressly identifies the maker as the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (cover page and s 4). Because the instrument is titled as a determination "for quota species", its practical effects fall primarily on persons and businesses that catch, hold quota for, process, transport, or trade in the listed species in the defined fishing area, although the instrument itself does not set out allocation or quota-holding rules.

Concretely, the following groups are within the instrument’s ambit or will be directly affected by its operation: vessel operators and skippers who catch the listed species in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (affected because aggregate catch limits constrain permitted aggregate removals for the fishery,s 6(2) and s 7(2)); quota holders or licence-holders under the Management Plan and the Act whose economic rights are tied to TACs (the instrument’s title and the authority stated at s 4 indicate the link to quota species); seafood processors and supply-chain businesses that receive and process the listed species, because the preparation basis specified in the tables (for instance "trunked weight" or "whole weight") determines how landed weight is measured against the TAC (s 6(2) and s 7(2)); managers and compliance staff at AFMA and state/territory agencies responsible for monitoring and accounting for catch totals (implicit from AFMA's role as maker, s 4); and communities and industries that rely on the fishery’s output for employment and local economic activity, because aggregate TACs set the upper bound on sustainable removals for the year.

The instrument also implicitly affects record-keeping and reporting practices for all operators in the fishery because the TACs are specified in tonnes based on defined preparation bases (s 6(2); s 7(2)), which requires consistent measurement and aggregation methods. Section 5(2) brings in the Management Plan’s definitions, so persons whose rights and obligations are defined under the Management Plan (for example licence types, zone definitions and species lists) are the relevant class for any operational impact of this determination.

The instrument does not itself reallocate quota between licence-holders, set individual transferable quota shares, or list penalty amounts. Those matters generally governed by the Management Plan or the Act (s 4 and s 5), so affected parties should treat this instrument as setting the aggregate ceiling while seeking the Management Plan and Act for rules on entitlements, allocation, transfer and compliance.

This instrument is a determination; it does not contain freestanding duty or penalty provisions. Its operative obligations are therefore indirect and implicit: it fixes aggregate total allowable catches (TACs) for the 2025-26 fishing year and specifies the preparation basis for calculating those TACs (s 6(2) table; s 7(2) table). From the instrument alone, the principal operational duty for those engaged in the fishery is to ensure that aggregate removals of each listed species do not exceed the tonnes specified for the relevant scope , whole fishery or particular zones , measured on the preparation basis stated.

Section 6(2) supplies the whole-fishery list: 23 species each with a tonne figure and a preparation basis. Section 7(2) supplies 11 items where TACs are specified for parts of the fishery. The preparation column in each table tells what basis of measurement applies to that TAC (for example, "Whole weight" for Alfonsino, "Trunked weight" for Gummy shark, and "Trunked, belly flaps removed" for Elephant fish) (s 6(2) table). Practically, the duty created by these entries is to measure catch against the appropriate TAC using the preparation basis specified.

Rights flow from the existence of an aggregate TAC only insofar as quota- or licence-holders have rights under the Management Plan and the Act to use or be allocated shares of that TAC. This instrument does not itself grant individual harvest rights, nor does it describe allocation mechanisms. The authority clause (s 4) indicates that the instrument operates under the Management Plan and the Act, which are the instruments that contain the licensing, quota allocation and transfer rules. Consequently, any exclusive or priority access rights (for example quota holdings) are not created by this determination; they must be traced to the Management Plan and the Act.

The instrument also imposes a temporal duty: its determinations apply to the 2025-26 fishing year (s 6(1); s 7(1)), and the instrument itself commences on the day after registration and ceases on 1 May 2026 (ss 2-3). That combination creates a legal window in which the TACs are effective; operators must reconcile their activities with that window and with whatever allocation or reporting rules operate under the Management Plan and the Act.

Finally, the note in s 5 that terms defined in the Act have the same meanings in this instrument signals that parties must read the instrument with the Act's definitions in mind. This affects the scope of duties because key terms (for example, "fishery", "quota", "zone", if defined in the Management Plan or the Act) will have their statutory meanings when interpreting obligations implied by the TAC figures.

The determination itself contains no express penalty provisions, compliance mechanisms, or enforcement process descriptions. The instrument records its legal authority as subsection 11(1) of the Management Plan for the purpose of paragraph 17(6)(aa) of the Act (s 4), but it does not reproduce those provisions or state what sanctions or enforcement powers apply when TACs are exceeded. Section 6 and section 7 set numerical TACs and the bases of weight/preparation, but neither section includes provisions on monitoring, reporting thresholds, infringement notices, administrative penalties, or criminal offences.

Given that omission within the instrument, enforcement and penalties must be sought in the Management Plan and the Fisheries Management Act 1991, which are the statutory texts authorising this determination (s 4 and s 5). Section 5(2) also states that terms defined for the purposes of the Management Plan have the same meanings in the instrument, reinforcing that the instrument is to be read within the regulatory framework of the Management Plan and the Act. Practitioners looking for sanctions, compliance processes, or enforcement agency powers should therefore consult those primary and subordinate instruments; they are not replicated in this determination.

For practical purposes, the absence of enforcement detail in the instrument means that the TACs are binding as determinations under the Management Plan (s 4), but how breaches of those TAC limits are detected, prosecuted, or sanctioned depends on the monitoring, reporting and enforcement machinery set out elsewhere. The instrument’s cessation date (s 3) and the temporal application to the 2025-26 fishing year (s 6(1); s 7(1)) mean that any enforcement action will be in respect of activity within that period, subject to the enforcement provisions of the Management Plan and the Act.

Readers and compliance officers should therefore treat this instrument as setting the aggregate legal ceilings for the specified species and zones and should not expect to find in it the procedural or penalty provisions that determine how breaches are addressed; those are matters for the Management Plan and the Act as the instrument itself indicates (s 4; s 5).

The instrument is explicitly made under and interacts by reference with the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003 and the Fisheries Management Act 1991. Section 4 identifies the instrument’s legal authority as arising under subsection 11(1) of the Management Plan for the purpose of paragraph 17(6)(aa) of the Act. Section 5(2) provides that any term used in the instrument that is defined for the purposes of the Management Plan has the same meaning in this instrument as it has in the Management Plan; the instrument’s note adds that terms defined in the Act have the same meanings in this instrument. Those two textual features create the following concrete interaction rules.

First, the meaning of key terminology in the instrument (for example the geographic scope of "the fishery", names of zones, and the notion of "quota species") is to be drawn from the Management Plan and the Act where those instruments define them (s 5(2) and note). This means the instrument does not operate in isolation; its species and zone lists must be read against the definitional and mapping provisions of the Management Plan and the Act.

Second, the instrument fixes aggregate TACs but does not itself enact licensing, allocation, quota-share transfers, monitoring, reporting, or enforcement provisions; those functions will be governed by the Management Plan and the Act pursuant to the authority cited at s 4. In practice, this determination sets ceiling quantities, while other instruments allocate, monitor and enforce.

Third, the instrument’s commencement and cessation provisions (ss 2-3) interact with the administrative requirement of registration on the Federal Register of Legislation for commencement. The instrument commences on the day after registration (s 2); it also states that it applies to the 2025-26 fishing year (s 6(1); s 7(1)). Where registration, commencement and specified fishing-year start dates do not align, interpretation will require reading the instrument’s temporal clauses together with the Management Plan and the Act. The instrument itself does not resolve conflicts between commencement timing and the defined fishing year; parties should therefore consult the Register entry date and the Management Plan’s temporal rules.

Fourth, by specifying preparation bases (e.g. "trunked weight", "whole weight", "trunked, belly flaps removed") (s 6(2); s 7(2)), the instrument interacts with any measurement, reporting and conversion rules set out in the Management Plan or the Act. Accurate measurement against the TAC depends on consistent application of the preparation standard; if the Management Plan or the Act contains definitions or conversion factors for those preparation methods, they will be operative in interpreting and applying the TAC figures per s 5(2).

Finally, the instrument’s legal temporariness and renewability (it ceases on 1 May 2026,s 3,and is framed specifically for the 2025-26 fishing year,s 6(1) and s 7(1)) indicate that it will interact with the schedule and processes in the Management Plan and the Act for annual determinations. The instrument does not amend or repeal other provisions; it sits as a year-specific determination under the Plan and Act, and interaction questions (for example, priority between overlapping instruments) will be resolved by those parent instruments and by the general law governing subordinate instruments.

The instrument as provided contains no expressed amendment history, revocation schedule, or transitional provisions. It is presented as the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Total Allowable Catch for Quota Species) Determination 2025, dated 12 March 2025 on the face of the document (cover page). Sections 2 and 3 set commencement and cessation rules for this iteration: the instrument commences on the day after registration (s 2) and ceases on 1 May 2026 (s 3). There are no internal clauses amending prior determinations or listing previous versions of this instrument.

Because the instrument is made under subsection 11(1) of the Management Plan (s 4), any amendment or replacement mechanism will be governed by the Management Plan and the process set out there for making, amending or revoking determinations. The present document gives no history of prior determinations, nor does it purport to vary or rescind any earlier instrument on its face. It is therefore to be treated as a standalone annual determination for the 2025-26 fishing year unless external records (for example prior determinations or the Register) indicate it replaces an earlier instrument.

Practically, the absence of amendment text or transitional provisions in the document itself means that stakeholders needing to understand changes from a prior year must compare the TAC lists and preparation bases in this instrument with the immediately preceding year's determination. That comparative exercise must be done using external documentary sources, because the instrument contains no cross-reference or schedule describing increases, decreases, or methodological changes relative to earlier determinations.

Finally, the instrument’s explicit cessation on 1 May 2026 (s 3) indicates it was intended as a time-limited annual instrument. For subsequent years, a new determination would be required under the same statutory authority; any amendment to this determination before cessation would need to be made under the Management Plan’s amendment procedures, none of which are included in this text.

This instrument contains no internal record of litigation and does not disclose any judicial or administrative decisions about its validity, interpretation, or enforcement. The text includes the date (12 March 2025) and the names of AFMA officials (Chair and Commissioners) on the face page, but it does not record any court challenges, appeals, or precedential rulings arising from this determination. It therefore presents no litigation history within its four corners.

Because the instrument is a statutory subordinate instrument made under the Management Plan and the Act (s 4), litigation about its operation, validity or the exercise of powers that produced it would be recorded in external tribunal or court decisions rather than in the instrument itself. Users seeking litigation precedent on interpretation of TAC figures, measurement conversions, or the legal effect of the preparation column should check case law and AFMA decisions concerning prior determinations or the Management Plan and the Act. Those materials are not included here.

For the purpose of compliance or legal advice, the absence of recorded litigation in the instrument means there is no authoritative judicial interpretation supplied with the text. Parties should therefore treat the instrument’s text as the starting point for legal analysis and should consult external judicial and administrative decisions if contested interpretation or enforcement questions arise in practice.

This instrument contains several features that commonly trip up operational, compliance and advisory work; these are concrete drafting and timing issues visible on the face of the text.

1. Preparation basis varies by species and affects weight calculations (s 6(2); s 7(2) tables). Some species are listed as "Whole weight", others as "Trunked weight", and one (Elephant fish) is "Trunked, belly flaps removed". Failure to apply the specified preparation basis when converting landed product to tonnes for TAC accounting will produce mismatches between reported and permitted catch. The instrument does not define how to convert between bases; stakeholders must therefore use the Management Plan/Act definitions or AFMA guidance to ensure consistent measurement (s 5(2)).

2. The instrument’s commencement regime and the fishing-year dates create potential timing friction (ss 2-3; s 6(1); s 7(1)). The instrument commences on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation (s 2) but states that it applies to the 2025-26 fishing year commencing 1 May 2025 and ending 30 April 2026 (s 6(1); s 7(1)). If the instrument is registered after 1 May 2025, parties will need to reconcile whether the instrument’s stated application period is prospective only from registration or intended to govern the entire fishing year including days before registration. The instrument itself does not resolve this sequencing; practitioners should check the Register date and may need to consult the Management Plan or obtain AFMA guidance.

3. The instrument fixes aggregate TACs without setting allocation or quota shares (s 4; s 6(2); s 7(2)). TACs are ceilings. The instrument does not state how the TAC is to be allocated among licence-holders or how quota trades are to be adjusted in response to TACs. Users should not assume that TAC figures in the instrument correspond directly to individual entitlements without reference to the Management Plan and quota records.

4. Multiple spatial layers and overlapping species controls (s 6(2); s 7(2)). Some species have whole-fishery TACs while others are controlled by zone. Where a species appears in both tables (if any do), or where multiple species interact in bycatch situations, operators must carefully map catches to the correct table row and to the correct zone. The instrument’s tables list specific zones (for example, Gemfish and deepwater shark eastern zone, Cascade Plateau zone, GAB Albany zone), but the instrument does not reproduce geographic definitions; these are to be read with the Management Plan (s 5(2)).

5. Units are tonnes only (s 6(2); s 7(2)). The instrument uses metric tonnes as the unit of measure. Conversions from kilograms, number of fish, boxes or other units will be required for operational monitoring and must adopt the conversion methodology accepted under the Management Plan or AFMA guidance.

6. Temporal expiry and planning risk (s 3). The instrument ceases on 1 May 2026. Business planning or investment decisions relying on the TAC levels should incorporate the instrument’s temporal nature and the possibility of change in the next determination cycle.

7. No express enforcement regime in the instrument (s 4; see Penalties and enforcement). Users must not assume enforcement detail in the determination; compliance regimes are set out elsewhere.

In short, the main operational pitfalls are: applying the wrong preparation basis; misreading the timing and commencement; assuming allocation mechanics are provided by the determination; misallocating catch to the wrong zone or table; and overlooking that measurement and enforcement rules rest in the Management Plan and the Act (s 5(2); s 4).

Compliance with this determination requires a combination of measurement accuracy, timely record-keeping, zone-specific catch accounting and coordination with the Management Plan and AFMA processes. The instrument itself sets aggregate TACs and preparation bases; it does not set allocation, reporting formats, or enforcement processes. The following steps describe how parties should act to align operations with the instrument’s requirements as stated.

1. Confirm legal commencement date. Section 2 provides that the instrument commences on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation. Operators and compliance officers must check the Register entry date and confirm the instrument’s operational start date, particularly because the fishing year is defined in the instrument as 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2026 (s 6(1); s 7(1)).

2. Map species and zones against the Management Plan. Section 5(2) states that terms defined in the Management Plan have the same meaning in this instrument. For each entry in the s 6 and s 7 tables, confirm the legal species identity and the geographical boundaries of any zone cited (for example Gemfish and deepwater shark eastern zone, Cascade Plateau, GAB Albany/Esperance zones, Orange roughy eastern/western/southern zones) from the Management Plan documentation.

3. Implement measurement protocols tied to the preparation basis. The table entries in s 6(2) and s 7(2) specify the preparation basis (for example "Whole weight", "Trunked weight", "Trunked, belly flaps removed"). Establish standard operating procedures for on-board or on-shore weighing that ensure landed catches are converted to tonnes on the specified basis. Where conversion from landed presentation to the specified preparation basis is required, use the conversion factors or definitions set out in the Management Plan or AFMA technical guidance.

4. Establish cumulative and zonal catch accounting. The TACs are aggregate limits per species either across the whole fishery (s 6(2)) or for specified parts of the area (s 7(2)). Maintain running ledgers that track cumulative catch by species and, where relevant, by zone. Ensure that catch reporting systems can aggregate to the TAC basis (tonnes on the prescribed preparation) and that they can produce reports aligned to the fishing year stated in s 6(1) and s 7(1).

5. Verify quota or allocation status via AFMA/Management Plan. Because the determination does not specify allocations among licence-holders, operators should confirm their individual quotas, permits or allocations under the Management Plan and AFMA records. Any transfers or quota trades must be processed under the standard processes in the Management Plan and AFMA systems.

6. Monitor bycatch and multi-species interactions. The instrument sets TACs for numerous species, and multi-species fishing can create bycatch that counts against these TACs. Implement gear, sorting, handling and reporting measures designed to reduce unintended removals for listed species and to record any such removals in the correct preparation basis and zone.

7. Prepare for reporting and audit. Even though the determination does not itself specify reporting formats, maintain documentation that links weight records, preparation conversion calculations, date and place of capture, and vessel identifiers; this documentation will be necessary to demonstrate compliance to AFMA or other authorities, given that the instrument is made under the Plan and Act (s 4; s 5(2)).

8. Watch the expiry and anticipate the next determination. The instrument ceases on 1 May 2026 (s 3). Businesses should incorporate the instrument’s temporariness into operational planning and be prepared to adapt to a new TAC schedule in the next determination cycle.

9. Seek clarifications from AFMA where the instrument is silent. For questions about enforcement, allocation, conversion factors, zone boundaries, or commencement sequencing, seek authoritative guidance from AFMA or consult the Management Plan and the Act as directed by s 4 and s 5(2).

Following these practical steps aligns an operator’s measurement, record-keeping and decision-making with the instrument’s textual requirements: species, tonnes and preparation basis for the 2025-26 fishing year as specified in sections 6 and 7.