If you’ve caught, collected or speared a restricted species the ONLY types of processing you are permitted to do while in, on or adjacent to the water is to gut, gill and scale the fish.

Make sure you know the law on restricted species

January 24, 2024

Lucky enough to catch a feed on the water, plan on processing it? Make sure you know the law! restricted

In NSW any species of fish with a size limit is known as a ‘restricted species’. If you’ve caught, collected or speared a restricted species the ONLY types of processing you are permitted to do while in, on or adjacent to the water is to gut, gill and scale the fish.

Restricted species of fish CANNOT:

Have their head or tail removed (their length must not be altered)
Be filleted.

If you process your fish in any manner listed above, you are in breach of the Fisheries Management General Regulation (2019) and may be deemed to have ‘mutilated’ the fish. These ‘mutilate’ regulations are in place to allow NSW Fisheries Officers the ability to inspect, identify and accurately measure your catch.

Once you are at a fish cleaning table, at home, or well away from the water, these rules no longer apply, and you may prepare your fish for consumption.

Download the free NSW FISHSMART App today to find out where fishing and collecting are permitted in NSW and to check the bag/size limits for restricted species – https://bit.ly/3LTNfCn

If you see illegal fishing activities please report it to the Fishers Watch Hotline on 1800 043 536 or online at https://bit.ly/38lU4OB