10th February 2012
International Sustainability Unit reports
His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, established the International Sustainability Unit to facilitate consensus on how to resolve some of the key environmental challenges facing the world - such as food security, ecosystem resilience and the depletion of Natural Capital.
The ISU’s Marine Programme was initiated to help strengthen consensus around the best solutions for the sustainable management of wild marine fish stocks, and to catalyse action in pursuit of these through partnerships between the public sector, the fishing industry, the wider private sector and NGOs.
The PCISU has released 3 reports that highlight some of the positive aspects to come out of the fishing industry in recent years and COLTO members and their toothfish fisheries (aka Chilean Sea Bass) are evident in all reports – namely for the significant reductions in IUU activity and sea bird mortality. The reports also include interviews with Austral Fisheries’ Martin Exel, who is also the Chairman of the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators.
Click below for links to the reports:
Towards Global Sustainable Fisheries: The Opportunity for Transition
Fisheries in Transition: Fifty interviews with the fishing sector
Towards Sustainable Fisheries Management: International Examples of Innovation
8th February 2012
Staff Profile – Peter Stevens,
General Manager Southern Deep-sea Fisheries
Peter joined Austral Fisheries in August 1997 after meeting the Austral team in Whangarei, New Zealand. At that time, the Austral Leader was undergoing refit and Peter was one of the Project Managers for the Northland Port Corporation. He had also spent time as the Chief Engineer on the now Southern Champion and other various vessels.
Peter is a fitter & turner by trade, but has tried his hand in numerous maritime industries – this has included service in the Royal New Zealand Navy, an engineer at the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand, the Engineering Manager for Sinclair & Melbourne ship repair facility where he was in charge of ship repair work & dry docking of vessels, and also in the Naval Dockyard in Auckland, NZ. In short, Peter has been on both sides of the fence in all things marine – both fishing and mechanical.
Peter joined Austral as the Engineering Manager for the deep-sea fleet with the added responsibility of the engineering requirements for the 9 Northern Prawn vessels a few years later. Since 2008, he has been the General Manager of the Deep-sea Fisheries.
After experiencing many marine industries, Peter finds the fishing industry the most rewarding, due mainly to the people you meet and experiences you are exposed to along the way.
27th January 2012
Sustainable Seafood Day: 16th March 2012
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has announced the launch of Sustainable Seafood Day in Australia. Set for March 16, it seeks to boost the profile of those products that bear the MSC’s ecolable – a tick of approval for sustainable and well managed fisheries.
Austral Fisheries already has one MSC certified product, Heard Island & McDonald Islands (HIMI) Mackerel Icefish, and currently has three other fisheries undergoing assessment – the HIMI Patagonian Toothfish Fishery, the Macquarie Island Patagonian Toothfish Fishery, and Australia’s Northern Prawn Fishery.
For more details on Sustainable Seafood Day please see the complete article on the MSC website.
18th January 2012
Staff Profile – Rhys Arangio,
Southern Fleet Operations
Rhys has been with Austral Fisheries since early 2009 and spends most of his time on Austral’s Southern Ocean fleet. This includes the operational aspects such as port calls for toothfish vessels, the Southern Champion and Austral Leader II, as well as science, policy and environmental aspects with government, conservation groups and other industry members. Rhys also spends time working with the international Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (www.colto.org) and is responsible for much of Austral Fisheries’ online space.
Before Rhys’ commencement with the company he completed his Marine Science Degree from Murdoch University in 2006 where he also spent a month volunteering in Exmouth for the Ningaloo Turtle Program with the Department of Environment and Conservation. After his degree he spent two years living in London where he saw much of Europe, the US and Africa.
Rhys completed a vigorous traineeship when he began with Austral, which included 9 months of sea time in Australia’s Northern Prawn Fishery, Australia’s Heard Island & McDonald Islands Patagonian Toothfish Fishery, the French Crozet Patagonian Toothfish Fishery and the Southern Indian Ocean high seas. Lastly, a 3 month secondment at the Australian Fisheries Management Authority in Canberra saw the end of this traineeship.
This year, Rhys has been awarded a prestigious Nuffield Scholarship, which aims to increase the practical knowledge and management skills of the scholar, while allowing them to study a topic of their choice abroad that will benefit their local industry. Rhys will be looking into mitigation options for whale depredation in longline fisheries.
In his spare time, Rhys is a keen scuba diver and plays Aussie Rules for the North Fremantle Amateur Football Club.
10th January 2012
Staff Profile – Martin Exel,
General Manager Environment and Policy
Martin has been working with Austral Fisheries since 1996, mainly in the areas of fisheries resources management, environment, science and policy issues. He’s an avid fisherman, both recreational and commercial, and has spent time working on Austral’s prawn boats in the Northern Prawn Fishery, toothfish fishing off Macquarie Island, as well as commercial fishing in many regions around Australia for both inshore and deepwater species. His recreational fishing is nearly as diverse, actively fishing for most Australian fish species at one time or another, be they trout in Tasmanian lakes, or Giant Trevally in the Coral Sea.
These days Martin has been supported by Austral Fisheries to extend his roles further than just direct work for Austral. Aside from his participation in a number of management and resource advisory committees for specific fisheries, he’s currently Chairman of the Commonwealth Fisheries Association (the Australian Commonwealth fishing industry peak body, www.comfish.com.au), President of the international Coalition for Legal Toothfish Operators (www.colto.org) and a board member of the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies with the University of Tasmania (www.imas.utas.edu.au).
Martin began his career in fisheries resources management after gaining a Bachelor of Science from New Zealand, followed by a Graduate Diploma from the Australian Maritime College in Tasmania a few years later. He spent the years inbetween studies by fishing commercially in New Zealand and New South Wales. Following his Graduate Diploma, Martin worked in Australian government roles with Commonwealth fisheries management agencies starting in 1984 with the (then) Department of Primary Industries, moving to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority where he was General Manager, Fisheries, from 1991 – 1996.
Martin spends substantial amounts of time at meetings and particularly international management and scientific forums related to the sub-Antarctic, working together with governments, conservation groups and other industry members around the globe to ensure toothfish and icefish fisheries remain sustainable, healthy, and legal, and are recognised as such. His primary goals are to ensure that fisheries are managed and harvested sustainably in Australia and internationally, and to do what he can to help promote those goals and achievements.
5th January 2012
Staff Profile – John Cordin,
Business Development Representative
John is one of the newest members of the Austral team, joining in November 2010. He is responsible for business development in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. His main roles are involved in the Seafood Trading Division but likes to be involved with domestic sales for Austral Fisheries and helping Dylan and Lesley with the export market. Introducing the Seafood Trading Division into Western Australia was a new area for Austral Fisheries and a tough one to crack with a strong local produce driven market and a lot of competition. 2012 looks to be a challenging yet exciting year for John.
In 2007, John completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree at Notre Dame University in Fremantle. Since completing his degree he was lucky enough to get a job on a 200ft motor yacht out of Florida as a deckhand. He was travelling on the motor yacht Mylin IV for almost two years, visiting various places including the Caribbean, BVI’s, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Estonia, Russia and Sweden. With his sea time on-board he gained a Yachtmaster Offshore ticket, enabling him to captain a 200 tonne motor yacht.
John loves everything to do with sport and is currently playing AFL for Collegians Amateur Football Club and cricket for Western Suburbs. He has completed the Rottnest Swim 4 times and is lining up for his 5th crossing, swimming in a duo.
22nd December 2011
Draft Report for HIMI toothfish
The Australian Heard Island & McDonald Islands Patagonian toothfish fishery is now approaching the final stages of Marine Stewardship Council review.
The MSC draft report was compiled by Scientific Certification Systems and is now available on the MSC website. The public comment period ends January 16th 2012.
If successful, HIMI will be the third toothfish fishery to achieve the gold standard of the MSC, determining it a sustainable and well managed fishery, following the South Georgia and Ross Sea toothfish fisheries.
20th December 2011
Staff Profile – Barbara Bell, Compliance Coordinator
Barbara is Austral’s second longest serving employee after the CEO. Arriving from the UK in 1980 she joined the then parent company, Kailis & France, in the marketing department looking after exports, which at the time included the first exports by air of live Lobsters for the Japanese & Hong Kong markets. Barbara moved to Fleet Operations in 1986 where she looked after all crew related issues – sourcing crew, arranging their travel to remote areas, insurance and licensing of the fleet. It was during this period she was introduced to the delights of Darwin and Karumba.
With the prawn fleets’ reduction in the early 1990s, Barbara progressed to include stock control and domestic marketing in her varied duties. In 1993 she took long service leave and spent the time as a cook/deckhand on one of the prawn trawlers for the 4 month tiger prawn season. This exposed her to the opportunity to see areas of the far North not normally accessible to the regular traveller. By the early 2000s, marketing was dropped and instead she developed the first Quality Control System on the prawn boats and went to sea each season to educate the crew in good processing skills. This again led to the privilege of visiting remote places such as Mornington, Groote Eylandt, Gove and Bamaga. As regulatory authorities increased requirements for more formally documented & managed food, personnel shipboard and environment safety systems, she has progressed to her current role as Compliance Coordinator.
Barbara has, over a period of years, driven around most of Australia and north to south from Darwin to Adelaide, climbed Ayres Rock twice and crossed the Nullubor six times. Clearly she has a passion for her adopted country. She also has a passion for her two dogs who are walked in the park twice daily and she learned later in life than most, the pleasures of sailing… Her mid-life crisis involved buying and learning to ride a motor cycle.
14 December 2011
Austral Leader II lengthening
Over the past few weeks the Austral Leader II has undergone some refurbishing at the CNOI shipyard in Port Louis, Mauritius. Under the watchful eye of General Manager Southern Fisheries, Peter Stevens, she has been cut in two and extended by 7.8m, taking her total length to 59.5m. This extension will increase her hold capacity to 350t of product, an increase of 150t, while also allowing for more comfortable accommodation for the crew.
The project is expected to be finished by February, with sea trials beginning in March, and the vessel ready for the start of the sustainable Heard Island Patagonian toothfish longline season in April 2012.
To see some photos of the extension please click here.
5th December 2011
Save our Seafood!
Today is a big day for Australian seafood! The WA Fishing Industry Council is hosting a luncheon at the Cottesloe Surf Club with local produce including Exmouth prawns, fresh new season Western rock lobster, Rottnest Island scallop, fresh fish & whiskery shark from the south west and Cone Bay Barramundi.
This day is a great opportunity to demonstrate how our sustainably managed fisheries can incorporate marine reserve networks and maintain a viable fishing industry to supply local seafood for all Australians!
