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

12. Amend the commercial spanner crab dilly limit.
    It is proposed to amend the existing spanner crab commercial dilly limit from 45 to 75 and to
    remove General Fisheries Permits for additional apparatus. Fishers operating more than 45 dillies
    (i.e. 46 to 75 dillies) would be required to have at least two people on board to appropriately handle
    undersized crabs. This change would commence on 1 January 2020 and is consistent with the
    draft harvest strategy to rebuild stocks.

Proposed commercial fishing changes to the East Coast Trawl Fishery
13. Divide the existing East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery (T1, T2) into four management areas and
    establish a separate total allowable commercial effort (TACE) based on sustainable catch
    limits for each management area.
    The TACE would be adjusted up and down in accordance with a harvest strategy:
       northern (tiger prawns) trawl area—Cape York to Northern tip of Dunk Island at approximately
        17°55.6’
       central (multi-species) trawl area—between Northern tip of Dunk Island at approximately
        17°55.6’ and south to approximately 22°, excluding the Swain Reefs and Hydrographers
        Passage
       southern offshore (eastern king prawns) trawl area—offshore waters from 22° to the
        Queensland–New South Wales border, including Swain Reefs and Hydrographers Passage
        and excluding the inshore scallop fishery
       southern inshore (scallops) trawl area—inshore waters from 22° to the southern end of Hervey
        Bay, excluding the offshore fishery near Fraser Island.
   Fishers who hold a T1 or T2 fishery symbol would be able to access all management areas, as they
   currently can. However, they would only be able to fish for, and retain, permitted trawl species if
   they hold effort units for that management area.
14. Allocate existing trawl effort units to the new management areas.
    It is proposed to allocate all existing effort units (T1/T2) to the new management areas. Allocation
    would be based on the following:
     a. Each licence holder’s effort unit and vessel tracking history over the 10-year allocation period
        from 2008 to 2017.
     b. ‘Used’ effort units would be allocated to the management area in which they were used. For
        T2 effort units, the existing area of operation restrictions (i.e. South of Sandy Cape) would
        continue to apply, and when converting to T1 effort units 50% would be surrendered along with
        the T2 symbol.
     c. ‘Unused’ effort units would be allocated based on a nomination process. Effort unit holders
        would be provided 6 weeks to nominate which management area (including Moreton Bay) their
        ‘unused’ effort units would be allocated to. If no nomination was received, the allocation would
        default to the regional percentages (36% southern offshore, 21% southern inshore, 21%
        central, 22% northern and 0% Moreton Bay), which are based on a value halfway between an
        equal split to each region and the existing fleet usage percentage for each management
        region. ‘Unused’ T2 units would be allocated into the southern offshore region, as this is the
        only area they are able to fish.
   Note: Fishers are reminded that an investment warning is in place for all Queensland fisheries.


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