The area extending seaward of coastal waters (that is, from three nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline) to the outer limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In the case of external territories, such as Christmas Island, the AFZ extends from the territorial sea baseline to the outer limit of the EEZ. The AFZ is defined in the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (Cth), which also specifies a number of ‘excepted waters’, notably in Antarctica and the Torres Strait, that are excluded from the AFZ.