Reef line fishery
Fishery symbols
- RQ (Reef Quota): Coral reef fin fish fishery
Management
Operating areas
The RQ symbol can be used only in the area defined for the east coast line fishery symbol appearing on the same licence:
- 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.
Quota or effort units
The fishery is managed through:
- total allowable commercial catch (TACC)
- prescribed commercial catch (PCC) or competitive catch limit, and
- individual transferable quotas (ITQs) units allocated to each licence
- species-specific ITQ for coral trout and red throat emperor
- combined ITQ for other species.
Licences
To operate in the fishery, you need a:
- primary commercial fishing licence with
- an RQ symbol, and
- an L1, L2, L3 or L8 symbol
- commercial fisher licence for the person in charge of fishing activities.
You must also hold a filleting permit to fillet quota species. Not all species can be filleted at sea.
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.
Reporting and monitoring
Commercial fishers must:
- report trip and catch notices
- pre-trip and amending notice
- transhipment notice
- prior notice
- weight notice
- catch disposal record
- retained fish notice
- emergency notice
- complete daily logbooks
- keep sale dockets
- have vessel tracking on their boats
- comply with state marine park and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning rules.
Closures
- Northern closure season:
- Two 3-week periods (6 weeks total) each year—dates align with new moon periods in October and November and timed to commence with the reef line fishery closures.
- Apply to east coast waters north of latitude 22˚S (located slightly north of Stanage Bay, between Mackay and Yeppoon).
- Southern closure season:
- Two 3-week periods (6 weeks total)— 1 to 21 February and 1 to 21 March each year.
- Applies to east coast waters south of latitude 22˚S (located slightly north of Stanage Bay, between Mackay and Yeppoon).
Closed area:
- Platypus Bay (near K'gari, formerly Fraser Island)—Spanish mackerel cannot be taken in this area due to the risk of ciguatoxin contamination.
Equipment
- Fish can be taken using fishing lines.
- Restrictions on boats and equipment depend on the fishery symbol you are operating under.
- 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.
Target species
- Red throat emperor (L. miniatus)
- Coral trout
- Common coral trout (P. leopardus)
- Barred-cheek coral trout (P. maculatus)
- Chinese footballer (P. laevis)
- Highfin coral trout (P. oligacanthus)
- Passionfruit trout (P. areolatus)
- Coronation trout (Variola louti)
- White-edge coronation trout (V. albimarginata).
Other species include:
- red emperor (L. sebae)
- stripey snapper (L. carponatus)
- saddletail snapper (L. malabaricus)
- crimson snapper (L. erythropterus)
- goldband snapper (P. multidens and P. typus)
- spangled emperor (L. nebulosus).
Size limits and form requirements
- Size and form requirements apply, as per Schedule 2 of the Fisheries Declaration 2019.