2019-07-18 OM Agenda - Item 1 - Attachment 2 - Fisheries Regulation Discussion Paper

Standardising fishing rules and supporting compliance




51. Strengthen management of black jewfish to support compliance.
    Black jewfish is now the highest value fisheries resource in Queensland. Following urgent
    management action in April 2019, it is proposed:
    a. to prohibit all fishing for all sectors 200 m from the Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay Coal
       Terminals to protect black jewfish at these known aggregation sites—it is estimated that
       approximately 98 000 kg of the reported commercial catch of black jewfish has come from this
       single area
    b. to clarify all jewfish species are to be reported at the species level
    c. all jewfish species and mulloway are to be landed whole by all sectors until a swim bladder
       tagging system is operational in Queensland
    d. a swim bladder tagging system be introduced for black jewfish from 1 July 2020
    e. black jewfish are a no-take species for all sectors once the total allowable commercial catch
       (TACC) is reached.
52. Clarify Commercial Fishing Boat Licence requirements.
    Clarify that a tender vessel must be nominated against the commercial fishing boat licence as the
    primary vessel before it can used (i.e. tender operating solely) in any fishery.
53. Amend and clarify Commercial Harvest Fishing Licence requirements.
    It is proposed to align the rules with Commercial Fishing Boat Licence requirements. This would
    require only one boat mark to be allocated to one Commercial Harvest Fishing Licence (CHFL)
    only. Licence holders wishing to fish multiple CHFLs on the one fishing trip would need to combine
    fishing symbols onto the same CHFL. Additional reporting requirements would apply in such
    circumstances.
54. Replace the existing nominee requirements for Commercial Harvest Fishing Licences with
    the requirements for Commercial Fisher Licences.
    To standardise requirements across fisheries, it is proposed to replace the existing nominee
    requirements with the requirements for the Commercial Fisher License (CFL). To facilitate the
    change, existing CHFL holders would be given until 1 July 2010 to apply and the CFL would be
    issued at no cost for the first 12 months.
55. Amend the Commercial Fisher Licence requirement and reintroduce fisher training.
    It is proposed to clarify the existing Commercial Fisher Licence requirement, bring the legislation in
    line with standard Queensland Government proof of identify requirements, and move towards the
    issue of a digital identification card in 2021. To complement these requirements, it is proposed to
    reintroduce commercial fisher training—particularly around legislation and reporting requirements,
    and the avoidance and release of species of conservation interest. Commencement of the training
    requirements would be subject to the development of training packages.




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