Fin fish (stout whiting) trawl fishery

The trawl fin fish fishery is located between the Sandy Cape and the Queensland–New South Wales border.

Fishery symbol

  • T4: trawl fishery (fin fish)

Management

Operating area

Quota

The fishery is managed through:

  • total allowable commercial catch (TACC)
  • individual transferable quotas (ITQs) units allocated to each licence.

The TACC is adjusted each year according to the harvest strategy.

Permitted species

Two species are permitted to be kept under non-transferable quota units:

  • Yellowtail scad (Trachurus novazelandiae)
  • Goatfish (Mullidae family).

Catch and trip limits

Under trip limits, licence holders can retain:

  • squid
  • octopus
  • cuttlefish
  • threadfin bream.

There are no catch limits to retain:

  • Moreton Bay bugs
  • Balmain bugs.

Licences

To operate in the fishery, you need a:

Reporting and monitoring

Commercial fishers must:

Equipment

All otter trawls must have:

Net specifications

  • Maximum total net length of 88m (combined head rope, bottom rope and all other ropes attached to the net).
  • Minimum mesh size is 38mm.

Permitted species

Permitted species may be taken only by using otter trawl or Danish seine gear.

Otter trawl restrictions:

  • maximum sweep length of 128m
  • maximum vessel length of 20m
  • compliant turtle excluder device must be on all otter trawl nets.

Danish seine restrictions:

  • maximum haul rope length of 2500m
  • deployed nets must be marked with a floating buoy
  • maximum vessel length of 25m.

Target species