Fishing News

Two women allegedly caught in possession of thousands of oysters illegally retrieved from waters in Georges River Sydney are facing numerous prosecution charges arising from the apprehension. During a patrol in June this year NSW DPI Fisheries Officers observed two people behaving in a manner consistent with intertidal invertebrate collection on the Georges River, which along with many other waterways …

A man and a woman are facing charges after being found using an illegal 374 metre long monofilament meshing net in the Towra Point Aquatic Reserve in Botany Bay. A call to the NSW DPI Fishers Watch service on June 30th this year led Fisheries Officers to take up surveillance in Quibray Bay within the Reserve. There they observed two …

QBFP officers in Mackay recently teamed up with the Queensland Water Police to execute a search warrant on St Bees Island (located north east of Mackay). Acting on information provided to Fishwatch, officers located and seized eight commercial gill nets and the unlicensed owner was fined $6670. The nets have been forfeited and will be destroyed. Please report any activity …

Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan review The Australian and Queensland governments are reviewing the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan, also known as the Reef 2050 Plan. This plan is Australia’s long-term strategy to protect and manage the Great Barrier Reef. The plan sets clear actions, management goals, objectives and outcomes. These drive and guide the short, medium and long-term management …

QBFP officers in Port Douglas seized a whopping 70 unmarked crab pots from Dickson Inlet, Mowbray River and Mossman River over two days. A reminder to all fishers that crab pots must be marked with the user’s surname and address and your gear should be removed from the water when you finish up. Crab pots that are left in the …

CONSTRUCTION of the 10m high steel tower and 32 concrete modules which will form the innovative Tweed Offshore Artificial Reef is now almost complete! Australian company Pacific Marine Group will soon begin loading its massive 55m barge with the completed reef modules for the trip to Tweed Heads. The reef will be installed in 25m of water 7.5km south-east of …

State government scientists will assess the population biology of black jewfish in a new Queensland study project to better understand stocks and manage the species. Minister for Agricultural Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the three-year priority project would provide crucial information to help protect the sustainability of black jewfish. “We need to know more about black jewfish on the …

TWO men, aged 40 and 23 from Broadwater have been sentenced before the Ballina Local Court following a late night patrol of recreational fishers in ocean waters South of Ballina, found they were in joint possession of a commercial quantity of snapper and teraglin, many of which were undersized. The 40 year old was also found in possession of a …

In a first for Australia, active acoustic equipment (echosounder) and unBaited Remote Underwater Video (uBRUV)cameras have been used together to assess snapper stocks as they aggregated to spawn in the waters off the northern end of Bernier Island. For the past three winters, these waters off Shark Bay have been closed to fishing for pink snapper from June until August, …

The NSW Department of Primary Industries want your fish skeletons! The DPI needs fish frames from recreational fishers to help with the monitoring of mulloway, yellowtail, kingfish, snapper, dusky flathead, tailor, black bream, spanish or spotted mackerel. skeletons It doesn’t just want huge trophy fish, the little ones are as important as the big ones. All legal length frames are …