East Coast Inshore Finfish Fishery

The East Coast Inshore Finfish Fishery is Queensland�s largest fishery in terms of number of operators. It comprises the commercial sector, a large recreational sector of around 800,000 anglers and an Indigenous sector. The fisheries operate in estuaries and tidal rivers, on the foreshore and adjacent waters.

The commercial net fishery comprises some 300 fishing vessels operating in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and landing around 2,800 tonnes per year, valued at $15 million. The key target species is barramundi, but other commercially valuable species include threadfin salmon, small mackerels (grey and school mackerels) and tropical sharks. Most of the species taken by the commercial net sector are for domestic consumption. A smaller commercial line fishery also operates for school and spotted mackerel. Although highly variable from year to year, catches in the commercial East Coast Inshore Finfish Fishery have ranged between 6,000 to 7,500 tonnes per year. The recreational take for some of the inshore finfish species is higher than the commercial catch.

The East Coast Inshore Finfish Fishery, managed by Fisheries Queensland, has been a limited entry fishery since 1984. Revised management arrangements were introduced on 1 July 2009. Principally they tightened up net attendance rules and gave formal direction to the shark component of the fishery. Commercial operators are authorised to use specialised gear within prescribed areas. Gear limitations include restrictions on the number of nets, net design, length and mesh size. There are also rules about the deployment and attendance of nets. Legal size limits, designed to protect the spawning capacity of stocks, apply to many species in both the commercial and recreational sectors. For barramundi, there is a closed season during summer that applies to all sectors.

Within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, net fishing is permitted only within the General Use (light blue) and Habitat Protection (dark blue) zones. Bait netting is permitted also in the Conservation Park (yellow) zone. Since 1997, 15 Dugong Protection Areas, in which netting is restricted or prohibited, have been established in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Clarification of rules in Dugong Protection Area Bs for net fishing

Recent amendments to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983 give greater protection to dugong in and around headland areas, by restricting the use of set mesh nets in certain parts of particular Dugong Protection Area Bs. The changes are a technical amendment to clarify long-standing existing netting rules, by providing clear definitions of areas around headlands where the use of offshore set nets is prohibited to reduce the risk of incidental catch to dugong. Information sheet and maps about minor netting changes in DPA Bs