Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Fisheries and for a world without hunger Aquaculture Department
Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profiles Australia
Part I Statistics and main indicators 1. Country brief 2. General geographic and economic indicators 3. FAO Fisheries statistics
The Profile (2003)
Additional information 2. FAO Thematic data bases 3. Publications
Source of information 4. Meetings & News archive United Nations Geospatial Information Section http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htm Imagery for continents and oceans reproduced from GEBCO, www.gebco.net
Part I Statistics and main indicators
Part I of the Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profile is compiled using the most up-to-date information available from the FAO Country briefs and Statistics programmes at the time of publication. The Country Brief and the FAO Fisheries Statistics provided in Part I may, however, have been prepared at different times, which would explain any inconsistencies.
Country brief
Updated 09-2015
Australia has a coastline of 25 760 km, and an exclusive economic zone of nearly 11 million km2 which is the third largest in the world. The fishing industry is the sixth most important food-based primary industry and has a current annual landed value of AUD 1.4 billion and aquaculture production of AUD 1.0 billion in 2012/2013. In addition, recreational fishers contribute annually an additional AUD 2.5 billion to the national economy. Total fishery production in quantity was 232 600 tonnes in 2013 with 33 percent coming from aquaculture. Australian fisheries production has declined since 2005 reflecting a large decline of Australian spiny lobster catch. Aquaculture production was dominated by Atlantic salmon (55 percent) and molluscs (25 percent). Rock lobster, southern bluefin tuna, abalone, scallops, shrimps and prawns are the main marine capture species of export. In 2014, total exports of fish and fishery products were valued at USD 1.1 billion. In
FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department the same year, imports were valued at USD 1.7 billion. Estimated per capita consumption amounted to 26.2 kg in 2011. In 2013 the fishery sector provided about 8 600 direct employments (about 41 percent in aquaculture) with 15 percent of female workers. In 2011, they were around 2 170 vessels, 94 of which were less than 24 meter in length.
In the 2010 report, 96 fish stocks across 22 fisheries were assessed: 56 stocks were classified as not overfished, 11 stocks were classified as overfished and 29 stocks were classified as uncertain with respect to their biomass status. The assessed fisheries included 10 that are managed solely by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) on behalf of the central (Commonwealth) government and 12 fisheries that are managed jointly with other Australian (State) jurisdictions or other countries through international arrangements.
The Australian Government advocates an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management as part of implementing ecologically sustainable development. This requires a holistic approach to management that considers fisheries interactions with, and impacts on, bycatch species (including threatened, endangered and protected [TEP] species), marine habitats, communities and ecosystems. New Commonwealth marine reserves to meet international and national commitments are being established since 2012.
Aquaculture in Australia is the country’s fastest growing primary industry, and accounts for 40 percent of the total gross value of production of seafood. The industry is coordinated by the National Aquaculture Council (NAC). Farming varies from southern Bluefin tuna-fattening in off-shore sea cages, to salmon where broodstock and production of fingerlings occurs in offshore and inshore waters, prawn farming in large-scale pond operations, mussels which are grown on marineropes, abalone which is farmed at sea and on land, marine finfish, freshwater species and pacific oysters.
Australia is a party to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, the 1995 FAO Compliance Agreement, and a signatory to the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing. Australia has a National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks and of Seabirds, plus a National Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (NPOA-IUU). Several fishery resources of commercial importance to Australia can only be managed effectively through cooperative regional action. Accordingly the Fisheries Branch of the Department of Agriculture (DAFF) provides:
policy advice and coordination on fisheries issues involving neighbouring countries; seeks to secure cooperation from countries with whom we share resources to improve standards of fisheries management in those countries; and seeks to influence the standard of regional fisheries management through participation in relevant regional bodies.
Membership in Regional Fishery Bodies Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) International Whaling Commission (IWC) Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific (NACA) Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) South Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA)
FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)
General geographic and economic indicators
Table 1 - General Geographic and Economic Data - Australia Source 2 184 Shelf area Sea around us: http://www.seaaroundus.org/ 844 km2 Length of 59 736 Australian Government: http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific- continental km topics/national-location-information/dimensions/border-lengths coastline
AUD Fisheries and 5.3 Forestry GVA billion ABS: http://www.abs.gov.au/ (2015) USD 3.9 billion *
* calculated with UN operational exchanged rate
Source Country area 7 741 220 km2 FAOSTAT. 2013 Land area 7 682 300 km2 FAOSTAT. 2013 Inland water area 58 920 km2 Computed. 2013 Population - Est. & Proj. 24.671 millions FAOSTAT. 2018 Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) area 8 569 150 km2 VLIZ GDP (current US$) 1 433 904 millions World Bank. 2018 GDP per capita (current US$) 57 374 US$ World Bank. 2018 Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 2.46 % of GDP World Bank. 2018
FAO Fisheries statistics
Table 2 in this section is based on statistics prepared by the Statistics and Information Branch of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department and disseminated in 2016. The charts are based on the same source but these are automatically updated every year with the most recent disseminated statistics.
Table 2 – Employment and Fleet Statistics - Australia
FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department 1980 1990 2000 2010 2012 2013 2014 EMPLOYMENT (thousands) 14.70 14.70 13.60 11.40 10.60 8.60 8.70 Aquaculture 0.20 2.00 4.30 3.80 3.60 3.60 5.10 Capture 14.50 12.70 9.30 7.60 7.00 5.10 3.60 Inland … … … … … … … Marine 14.50 12.70