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Abstract
Changes in fishery management can influence vessels’ efficiency, thereby changing the fishery’s ability to achieve a catch target consistent with maximising net economic returns to the Australian community. The stochastic frontier method is used to analyse the vessel-‐level technical efficiency achieved in the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery over the period 2001–02 to 2010–11. A significant reduction in fleet size in this fishery following implementation of the Securing our Fishing Future structural adjustment package in 2006 is shown to have had a negligible effect on vessel-‐level technical efficiency. Also, effort creep was avoided during the period of effort controls; 2008–09 to 2010–11. Tracking changes in technical efficiency over time can help managers of Commonwealth fisheries better achieve their objective of maximising net economic returns to the Australian community.