Don't Get Caught! The rules have changed!

Fish for the future Queensland’s new fisheries regulations start 1 September 2019. A number of changes have been made to recreational, charter and commercial fishing rules to ensure we have fish for the future.

Changes to fishing rules for all sectors

Size limits:

 Pearl perch minimum legal size limit increased from 35 cm to 38 cm

 King threadfin minimum legal size limit increased from 60 cm to 65 cm on the east coast

 Single minimum legal size limit of 60 cm for Mary River cod and Murray cod, and Murray cod maximum size limit of 110 cm removed

 Clarified in the regulations that the size limit for giant queenfish in the Gulf of Carpentaria applies to all fishers

Closures

 New seasonal closure for snapper and pearl perch – 15 July to 15 August each year

 New closed waters that prohibit take of black jewfish within 200 m from the Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay coal terminals

 Standardised start and end times for the majority of fishery closures – midnight to midnight

Other

 Mulloway and scaly jewfish must be kept whole while on board a vessel

 Black jewfish will become a no-take species for all sectors when the total allowable commercial catch is reached

Changes to recreational fishing rules

Possession limits

 Mud crab possession limit reduced from 10 to 7

 Boat limits for nine priority black-market species will be two times the possession limit – mud crab, prawns, snapper, black jewfish, barramundi, shark, Spanish mackerel, sea cucumber and tropical rock lobster (these boat limits do not apply to charter fishers)

 Pearl perch possession limit reduced from 5 to 4

 Tropical rocklobster possession limit of 5 applies in all Queensland waters

 Blue swimmer crab possession limit reduced from no limit to 20

 Mollusc and gastropod (including pipis) possession limit reduced from 50 to 30 2

 General possession limit of 20 introduced for all species without a prescribed possession limit (excluding some bait species)

 No possession limit for the following bait species – southern herring, common hardyhead, Australian sardine, Australian anchovy, silver biddy, saltwater yabby, soldier crab and non-regulated worms (e.g. mangrove worms)

 Possession limit of 50 introduced for certain bait species – mullet (excluding diamondscale, sea and freshwater mullet), cuttlefish or squid (excluding tiger squid), smooth-clawed rock crab and yellowtail pike

 Hammerhead shark and white teatfish are now no-take species

 Oyster possession limit clarified in the regulations – a person must eat oysters (excluding pearl oysters) on the spot where they are taken (pearl oysters can be taken away from the site but they must be the correct size)

 Australian bass possession limit in stocked impoundments increased from 2 to 5

 Clarified in the regulations that a possession limit of 50 applies to the Cribb Island worm (formerly known as blood worm)

 Mary River cod possession limit of 1 in stocked impoundments expanded to include Wyaralong Dam, Ewen Maddock Dam, Caboolture River Weir, Robina Lakes, Lake Kurwongbah, Enoggera Reservoir and Lake Manchester

Closures

 Tinana Creek and its tributaries upstream of Teddington Weir wall closed to all forms of fishing

 Murray cod seasonal closure changed to 1 August to 31 October each year

 New waters closed to line fishing (or possession of a fishing line) from 1 August to 31 October in the following locations:

o Coomera River (upstream of defined boundary)

o Albert River (upstream of defined boundary)

o Running Creek

o Christmas Creek

o Stanley River (upstream of defined boundary) o Mary River (upstream of defined boundary, excluding Baroon Pocket Dam, Borumba Dam and Lake MacDonald)

Gear requirements

 Recreational crab apparatus and freshwater traps must now be marked with the surname and address of the person using the apparatus