Daily catch and effort logbook

Licenced commercial fishers and licenced charter fishers operating in Queensland are legally required to complete daily catch and effort logbooks.

Commercial fishers must ensure the logbook is available for immediate inspection while the fish is in their physical possession. This requirement does not apply to charter fishers.

The commercial fisher in control of the fishing operation is responsible for meeting the reporting requirements.

What to report

You must provide accurate information about the:

retained catch
discarded catch (in certain logbooks)
time spent fishing
location catch was taken
fishing equipment used.

Use the fish species guides to accurately identify and report species.

The information that you provide in your logbook returns is used for fisheries management and research.

How to complete

You must complete the logbook:

at the end of each day
on the final day of the fishing operation before the boat lands
for all calendar days, even when not fishing.

You can either submit this information in:

paper hardcopy logbooks, or
the Qld eFisher app (if eligible fishery).

Qld eFisher app

You can submit your logbook through the Qld eFisher app if:

you operate in an eligible fishery, and
all other records for this fishing operation are also submitted through the app.

Each daily logbook entry must be submitted within 24 hours after the fishing operation ends.

Read the Qld eFisher app instructions.

Paper logbooks

Hardcopy logbooks must be:

submitted within 7 days after the fishing operation ends
received by Fisheries Queensland no more than 15 days after the end of the month for which the record is made.

You can check if logbook pages have been received on FishNet Secure, under ‘Log Page Receipt'.

You can request a copy of submitted logbook pages.