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Commercial Net Fisheries in Queensland

Does not include the Trawl Fishery, which also uses nets but deploys them differently and targets different species.

Species taken:

  • barramundi, shark, threadfins, mackerel, sea mullet and whiting

Extent: Tidal waters from the border with the Northern Territory to the border with New South Wales

Value: Approx. A$41 million a year

On this page:

Overview of Queensland's commercial Net Fisheries

There are three major net fisheries:

  • the Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fin Fish Fishery
  • the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery
  • the Ocean Beach Fishery (a subset of the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery)

How are the fish caught?

Fish are caught using a variety of nets and netting methods. The nets and methods used depend on the fishery. Some of the nets used include mesh nets and seine nets.

For more detail, see Gear below.

Is the fishing seasonal?

Yes, controls have been introduced so that certain species may not be fished all year round. The open and closed seasons vary from species to species.

For more detail, see Regulations below and Basic Fisheries Management Methods .

Where is the fish sold?

Most of the fish is sold on the domestic market, both in Queensland and interstate. Both mullet roe (Ocean Beach Fishery) and shark fin are exported.

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Net Fishery management areas

The net fisheries operate along the entire Queensland coastline as far out as the Queensland East Coast Offshore Constitutional Settlement Boundary, except for the areas closed to net-fishing under the Fisheries Act 1994 and the Marine Parks legislation.

The Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fin Fish Fishery extends from the Queensland-Northern Territory border to Slade Point on the north-west coast of Cape York Peninsula. This fishery is managed as a separate entity. It has an inshore component (0-7 nautical miles) targeting species such as barramundi and threadfins, and an offshore component (7-25 nautical miles) targeting species such as shark and grey mackerel.

The East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery covers all tidal waters of the east coast out to the Queensland East Coast Offshore Constitutional Settlement Boundary between the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula and the Queensland-New South Wales border.

For management purposes, these fisheries have been classified according to a system of 18  areas, each represented by a fishery symbol - that is, areas where licensed net-fishers are authorised to fish.

For maps of individual fishery areas, indicating where individual fishing licensees are authorised to enter, see Commercial fishery symbols in Queensland. For the exact coordinates, see Fisheries Regulation 2008 .

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Target species

Which species are targeted?

The net fisheries are multi-species fisheries, with fishers targeting different species at different times of the year throughout the geographical extent of the fishery in which they are operating.

The Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fin Fish Fishery harvests mainly tropical species, such as:

  • king and blue threadfins (Polydactylus sheridani and Eleutheronema tetradactylum)
  • barramundi (Lates calcarifer)
  • spotted grunter bream (Pomadasys kaakan)  

The northern areas of the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery harvests mainly tropical species, such as:

  • king and blue threadfins (Polydactylus sheridani and Eleutheronema tetradactylum)
  • barramundi (Lates calcarifer)
  • bream (Acanthopagrus australis)
  • grey mackerel (Scomberomorus semifasciatus)

The southern areas of the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery harvests mainly subtropical fin fish species, such as:

  • mullet (Mugil cephalus)
  • tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix)
  • whiting (Sillago species)
  • flathead (Platycephalus species)
  • bream (Acanthopagrus australis)
  • mulloway (Argyrosomus hololepidotus)
  • school mackerel (Scomberomorus queenslandicus)

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Gear

What gear is used by these fisheries?

In the Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fin Fish Fishery, the main gear is mesh nets . These are used to harvest barramundi and the threadfins. The nets are set in position where fish are likely to swim into them - in rivers, near the foreshore or offshore, depending on the location and the species targeted.

In the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish F ishery, two main types of gear are used:

  • Mesh nets, which are usually set (as above) are used in the northern areas of this fishery for most of the species caught (barramundi, the threadfins, tropical shark and mackerels), and mesh nets are used as drift nets or ring nets in southern areas for most of the species for most of the species caught in the larger estuaries and bays, such as mullet and lesser mackerels.

  • Seine nets are used in the southern areas of the fishery and only occasionally in the northern area. The net is deployed in an arc from the shoreline, usually from a small boat, surrounding an area of water containing fish, and then hauled to the shore. This technique is used mainly for mullet and other inshore species, such as whiting and tailor in the Ocean Beach Fishery.

These fishing methods are subject to government controls.

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Government controls

The controls that have been developed for the various net fisheries include:

  • licensing
    and
  • regulations.

Licensing

What licences do you need for net-fishing?

  • The fisher must have a Commercial Fisher Licence .
  • The  boat must be licensed as a Queensland Commercial Fishing Vessel (QFV).
  • The boat licence must be officially "endorsed" for the particular fishery (that is, marked with the symbol that stands for that fishery). Each symbol denotes a certain geographical area, target species and type of gear. For maps of individual fishery endorsement areas, see Commercial Fishery Symbols in Queensland.

How do you get a net-fishing licence?

The only way is to buy an existing licence. This is because, from 1984, no new primary commercial fishing boat licences are being issued. 

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Regulations

The regulations include:

  • area closures (certain areas are closed to netting under the Fisheries Act 1994 and Marine Parks legislation - closure information can also be found in the Fisheries Regulation 2008 and the Fisheries (Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fin Fish) Management Plan 1999 )
  • closures during spawning season
  • restrictions on the number, length, drop and mesh size of nets
  • restrictions on the minimum legal size of fish and in some cases Total Allowable Catches (TACs)
  • "attendance" requirements (by law, net fishers are required to be "in attendance" at the net while fishing so as to minimise harm to species of conservation concern, such as crocodiles, dugongs and turtles).

The details of the regulations are different for the different species and fisheries:

  • Harvest of barramundi is not permitted
    • in the Gulf of Carpentaria typically between October and January. The closing and opening dates are variable in this fishery, as they depend on the timing of the full moon in the calendar year.
    • on the east coast between 1 November and 1 January, effectively closing the fishery to all netting activity.
  • A number of species, including spotted mackerel, must not be targeted by commercial net fishers.
  • In the southern areas of the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery, fishers face many restrictions. These include weekend closure to all forms of net-fishing and various area closures:
    • The Ocean Beach Net Fishery is allowed to operate only from 1 April to 30 August and with only a limited number of boats.
    • Dugong Protection Areas (DPAs) were introduced in mid-1997. Depending on the type of DPA, netting is either prohibited or restricted in the 17 nominated areas in Queensland.

For more details on government controls, see Basic Fisheries Management Methods .

How is the catch monitored?

Commercial fishers have a legal obligation to report information about their fishing activities in a compulsory daily logbook. All net fishers must contribute data about their day's catch, the location fished and the time spent fishing. The data provided is used to assess and monitor the status of individual species and fisheries in Queensland.

See Commercial Fishery Information System (CFISH) for details.

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Net fishery statistics

Year Number of boats Number of days fished Catch (in tonnes) Approximate gross value of production (AUD $million)
2001 807 46 400 8553 40
2002 769 45 795 7227 35
2003 796 49 389 8219 40
2004 782 49 789 8525 41
Note: Data extracted September 2005

Laws relating to Queensland's Net Fisheries

The net fisheries in Queensland are operated in accordance with the Fisheries Act 1994 and the Fisheries Regulation 2008 .

Other relevant legislation

  • Fisheries (Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fin Fish) Management Plan 1999

Copies are available through the Government Printing Office on telephone 07 3246 3399 or you can download them at the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel website.

For information on other Queensland commercial fisheries see:

Last updated 03 April 2008
 

© The State of Queensland, (Primary Industries and Fisheries within the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation) 1995-2009.
Copyright protects this material. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act, reproduction by any means (photocopying, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise), making available online, electronic transmission or other publication of this material is prohibited without the prior written permission of The Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Queensland. Inquiries should be addressed to copyright@dpi.qld.gov.au (Queensland residents phone 13 25 23; non-Queensland residents phone 61 7 3404 6999).