Operating a line fishery

Fishery symbols

• L1: Line fishery (other than Great Barrier Reef region)
• L2: Line fishery (reef)
• L3: Line fishery (reef)
• L4: Line fishery (Gulf of Carpentaria – Spanish mackerel and other fin fish)
• L8: Line fishery (multiple hook - east coast)

Management

The industry is managed through separate harvest strategies and working groups for:

• reef line fishery
• east coast Spanish mackerel fishery
• east coast inshore fishery (line and net fishery)
• Gulf of Carpentaria – Spanish mackerel and other fin fish fishery.

Commercial fishers must comply with reporting and licensing requirements, depending on the fishing area and fishery symbol they operate under.

While fishing in the rocky reef fishery under a L1, L2, L3 or L8 symbol, a fisher with:

• a C1 or C2 symbol on that licence: may also take crab under those symbols if they hold sufficient crab quota
• a SM symbol on that licence: may also take Spanish mackerel under that symbol if they hold sufficient Spanish mackerel quota
• a RQ symbol on that licence: may also take reef line quota species if they hold sufficient quota of the relevant quota category.

Otherwise, you must not take fish in more than 1 commercial fishery at the same time.

Operating areas

• Area of the L1 line fishery
• Area of the L2 line fishery
• Area of the L3 line fishery
• Area of the L4 line fishery
• Area of the L8 line fishery

Equipment

All fisheries use fishing lines, with a restriction on the number of lines and hooks that commercial fishers can use.

Fishers cannot fish from land (must fish from a boat) except in those fisheries (hand-harvest) that area allow to fish from land, as per the Fisheries (Commercial Fisheries) Regulation 2019.

L1, L2 or L3 symbol

• Maximum of 3 fishing lines can be used at the same time.
• Total of 6 hooks or lures attached per person.

L8 symbol

• Drop lines or bottom set lines can be used, but not at the same time.
• Maximum of 6 drop lines with a float and up to 50 hooks attached to each line.
• Maximum of 3 bottom set lines and 300 hooks with a float attached to the end of each line.
• Floats must be solid, light-coloured and no less than 30cm in any dimension.
• A person must be within 100m of a line or group of lines while they are in use.
• Must operate in waters deeper than 200m east of the longitude 142° 31’49 and the 200m bathometric line.
• Must comply with with state marine park and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning rules.

Boats

• A primary boat can be up to 25m long.
• Tender boats:
• L1, L2 or L8: up to 7 tender boats, up to 10m long
• L3: only 1 tender boat up to 10m long.