Fishing Rules

Snapper and pearl perch will be no-take species in Queensland waters for one month starting July 15 (from 12.01am). Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said this new closure would apply to all fishers – commercial, charter and recreational. “This seasonal closure is similar to spawning closures for barramundi and reef fin fish species, which have been …

WHILE most of us are snuggling up at home this winter, commercial fishers have already commenced fishing in the ocean beach net fishing season that runs from April to August each year. A small number of fishers hold licences for the ocean beach net fishery which limits when and where they can fish, what fish they can catch, the size …

NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) Fisheries Officers are reminding fishers to ensure they’re following the rules after six fishers were apprehended illegally fishing on a designated dive site on the NSW Central Coast. NSW DPI Acting Director, Fisheries Compliance, Dr Andrew Moriarty, said fisheries officers have recorded a rise in reports of illegal fishing at the Ex HMAS …

DESPITE issuing a pre-Easter warning, Great Barrier Reef authorities were disappointed to encounter a high volume and array of illegal activity, including zoning offences, threatening the health of the Reef, and the communities dependent on it, over the long weekend. While data is still coming in from partner agencies, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the Great Barrier Reef Marine …

A RECREATIONAL fisher in Hervey Bay has been fined $5000 and ordered to pay restitution after admitting to interfering with commercial crab pots and illegally selling mud crabs. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the man was caught after Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers began investigating reports of people interfering with commercial crab apparatus in …

THE Easter four-day weekend is typically a wonderful time for boating across Australia but 2020 is far from a typical year, with the Boating Industry Association urging people to please stay home this Easter. Fires, floods and now a pandemic have made this an extraordinary and challenging time. The BIA supports government countermeasures to protect Australians from the full impact …

TWO Central Queensland commercial fishers caught with female mud crabs have been fined $26,000 in the Rockhampton Magistrates Court. Member for Rockhampton Barry O’Rourke said the court’s penalty sent a message to all fishers that the illegal take of Queensland fisheries resources will not be tolerated. “By blatantly disregarding Queensland’s fisheries laws and taking protected species such as female mud …

MORE than 6251 marine invertebrates have been seized, 337 offences detected and $63,000 in fines issued in an operation designed to target illegal shellfish collection in the Sydney metropolitan region. The issuing of fines has completed Operation Turbo Reef, an initiative of NSW Department of Primary Industries Fisheries Compliance Unit. Acting Director Fisheries Compliance Brett Andrew said the operation is …

TWO people were fined a total of $53,000 after being found in possession of an illegal crab haul comprising a large number of female and undersized crabs and undersized fish taken from Paradise Point on the Gold Coast. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said: “While the vast majority of fishers do the right thing, there are …

THE fishing boat at the centre of Queensland’s biggest black market fisheries bust has been reduced to recycling material after being seized and crushed by the State Government. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the 4.3m aluminium vessel was crushed to show all fishers what can happen if they flout Queensland’s fisheries laws. “This boat crushing …