Operating a net fishery
Structural adjustment payments
Applications are still open for supply chain business diversification grants, gillnet buyback and gillnet reel boat refit grants for eligible commercial licence holders, and businesses affected by the:
- phase-out of gillnets on the Great Barrier Reef
- Great Sandy Marine Park rezoning
- new Gulf of Carpentaria gillnet-free areas.
Queensland’s major commercial net fisheries are the:
Queensland's commercial net fishery is a multi-species fishery. Fishers target different species at different times of the year.
Fishery symbols
Cancelled symbols
N1, N2, N4 and S symbols are no longer valid from 1 January 2024.
East coast
- N10: Net fishery (east coast—no. 4)
- N11: Net fishery (no. 11)
- N15: Net fishery (management region 5)
- NX: Net fishery (limited life—management region 2–4)
Ocean beach
- K1: Net fishery (ocean beach area 1)
- K2: Net fishery (ocean beach area 2)
- K3: Net fishery (ocean beach area 3)
- K4: Net fishery (ocean beach area 4)
- K5: Net fishery (ocean beach area 5)
- K6: Net fishery (ocean beach area 6)
- K7: Net fishery (ocean beach area 7)
- K8: Net fishery (ocean beach area 8)
Gulf of Carpentaria
- N3: Net fishery (Gulf of Carpentaria—no. 1)
- N12: Net fishery (Gulf of Carpentaria—offshore)
- N11: Net fishery (no. 11)
- N13: Net fishery (Gulf of Carpentaria—offshore)
Management
Harvest strategies
Working groups
Operating areas
Ocean beach
- Area of the K1 net fishery
- Area of the K2 net fishery
- Area of the K3 net fishery
- Area of the K4 net fishery
- Area of the K5 net fishery
- Area of the K6 net fishery
- Area of the K7 net fishery
- Area of the K8 net fishery
East coast inshore
Gulf of Carpentaria
- Area of the N3 Gulf of Carpentaria net fishery
- Area of the N11 Gulf of Carpentaria net fishery
- Area of the N12 net fishery
- Area of the N13 net fishery
N10: Net fishery (east coast—no. 4)
- Selected foreshore waters in:
- Moreton Bay region
- Great Sandy Strait region.
Licences
To operate in the fishery, you need a:
- primary commercial fishing licence with the relevant fishery symbol
- commercial fisher licence for the person in charge of fishing activities.
Reporting and monitoring
Commercial fishers must:
- report trip and catch notices – varies depending on the fishery symbol
- 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.
Equipment
Permitted fishing equipment varies across fishing symbols and fishing areas:
- east coast inshore fishery use mainly mesh nets, with seine nets used in ocean beach fisheries
- Gulf of Carpentaria inshore fishery mainly uses mesh nets.