Fishing Rules

Queensland Boating and Fisheries are working with commercial fishers to complete their 20th annual fishery independent spanner crab survey. The fisheries monitoring team will be working onboard chartered commercial vessels across 5 regions of southern Queensland, collecting length, sex and abundance information for spanner crabs. Spanner crabs live in aggregations making it difficult to determine population size from commercial catch …

Biosecurity Queensland is investigating a report of the invasive pest fish species tilapia suspected in Cooby Creek, downstream of Cooby Dam, north of Toowoomba. Cooby Creek is a tributary that flow into the Murray-Darling Basin. If confirmed, this would be the first instance that tilapia have been found in this catchment. Tilapia were introduced into Australia in the 1970s as …

Clarence Fisheries Officers would like to thank the member of the public who reported observing a mesh net in a small tributary of the Clarence River. Officers attended the location and observed the net partially in the water with a bass present that had recently become entangled and died. Officers seized two nets from the water and adjacent river bank. …

A call to the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol has led to a fisher being fined $12,000 in the Townsville Magistrates Court for a range of fishing offences. QBFP monitored the fisher’s activities in Blacksoil Creek south of Townsville through active surveillance, including the use of drones, to assist with the prosecution. The fisher pleaded guilty to possessing: 2 fishing …

Two illegal crabbers in a Moreton Bay Marine Park green zone have received a total of $20,131 in fines and costs. Marine park rangers were conducting covert surveillance of the Pannikin Island Marine National Park Zone when they found two unlawfully set crab pots. Later that night, they observed two men in a recreational vessel inspecting the crab pots. The …

A SIGNIFICANT milestone in building a future for the commercial and recreational fishing industries has been reached with the next phase of Queensland Government’s sustainable fisheries reforms coming into effect on September 1. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the changes clarify commercial fishing rules and reporting requirements for fishers, while …

THERE’S been a noticeable increase in fishers throwing fish frames back in the water near several popular swimming spots. In addition to kids and swimmers standing on fish spikes, discarded fish frames can also attract sharks and crocodiles. While it’s not an offence under fisheries legislation, everyone is encouraged to think of others when disposing of frames. Here are some …

An illegal fisher has been apprehended during a weekend near Warren, following a joint operation between NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Fisheries officers and NSW Police Rural Crime Unit, Acting Director NSWDPI Fisheries Compliance, Dr Andrew Moriarty said. Two men, a 49-year-old man from Dubbo and a 58-year-old man from Wongarbon, were apprehended on Saturday 27 June 2020 on the …

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 …