News and media

CSIRO will be conducting a pre-season Kaiar abundance survey over the neap tides between the 3rd and 20th November 2024. The mothership ‘Wild Blue’ (20470QB) and a dive tender will be used to conduct the survey.

Torres Strait beche-de-mer (BDM) fishers and fish receivers are being reminded of their requirement to report all catch on catch disposal records and return to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority within the mandated timeframe.

The Protected Zone Joint Authority (PZJA) is notifying commercial fishers that the Torres Strait Tropical Rock Lobster (Kaiar) fishery closed on Monday, 30 September 2024.

Independent consultants engaged by the Protected Zone Joint Authority (PZJA) Standing Committee have begun meeting with Torres Strait Island and Northern Peninsular Area (NPA) communities to gain their views about future arrangements for the Tropical Rock Lobster (Kaiar) quota allocation to the Traditional Inhabitant Boat (TIB) sector.

In line with the Torres Strait Fisheries (Quotas for Tropical Rock Lobster (Kaiar)) Management Plan 2018, the Protected Zone Joint Authority (PZJA) Standing Committee has appointed a team of independent consultants to conduct a review of the future arrangements of the Tropical Rock Lobster (Kaiar) quota allocation to Traditional Inhabitants from 16 island communities as well as the Northern Peninsular Area of the Torres Strait.
 

At its out-of-session meeting on 29 May 2024 the Protected Zone Joint Authority (PZJA) agreed that the Torres Strait Finfish Fishery Spanish mackerel TAC will be 77 tonnes and the coral trout TAC will be 123 tonnes for the 2024-25 fishing season, which commences on 1 July 2024.