Net fisheries licensing and management areas

From 1 September 2021, there are new rules and reporting requirements for Queensland commercial fisheries.

Find fact sheets on the new rules and reporting requirements.

If you participate in commercial net fishing, it's important that you are aware of licensing arrangements and management areas.

Licensing

The following licensing arrangements apply to Queensland's commercial net fisheries:

• The fisher must have a commercial fisher licence.
• The boat must be licensed under a commercial fishing boat licence (CFBL).
• The boat licence must be officially endorsed for the particular fishery (i.e. marked with the symbol that stands for that fishery).

No new licences are issued for existing fisheries. To enter a net fishery, you must first obtain the correct licence (CFBL) and fishery symbols from an existing licence holder. Licences can be transferred from person to person, and fishery symbols can be transferred from one licence to another licence.

Management areas

Commercial net fisheries operate along the entire Queensland coastline as far out as the Queensland east coast offshore constitutional settlement boundary, except for the areas closed to net fishing under the Fisheries Act 1994 and marine parks legislation.

Gulf of Carpentaria inshore fin fish fishery

The Gulf of Carpentaria inshore fin fish fishery extends from the Queensland-Northern Territory border to the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula. This fishery includes:

• a component that primarily targets river and near shore species such as barramundi and threadfins up to 7 nautical miles from the coast
• a component that primarily targets species such as shark and grey mackerel more than 7 nautical miles from the coast

East coast inshore fin fish fishery

The east coast inshore fin fish fishery covers all tidal waters of the east coast out to the Queensland east coast offshore constitutional settlement boundary between the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula and the Queensland - New South Wales border. This fishery includes:

• a barramundi river and foreshore component
• an offshore shark and grey mackerel component
• an ocean beach mullet component
• a general estuarine component.

Also consider...

• Learn more about commercial fishing fees and application forms.
• Read the Fisheries Regulation 2008 for more information about licensing and management areas of Queensland's commercial net fisheries.