Reef line fishery

Fishery symbols

• RQ (Reef Quota): Coral reef fin fish fishery

Management

• Harvest strategy
• Management overview
• Working group

Operating areas

The RQ symbol can be used only in the area defined for the east coast line fishery symbol appearing on the same licence:

• Area of the L1 line fishery
• Area of the L2 line fishery
• Area of the L3 line fishery
• Area of the L4 line fishery
• Area of the L8 line fishery.

Quota or effort units

The fishery is managed through:

• total allowable commercial catch (TACC)
• prescribed commercial catch (PCC) or competitive catch limit, and
• individual transferable quotas (ITQs) units allocated to each licence
• species-specific ITQ for coral trout and red throat emperor
• combined ITQ for other species.

Licences

To operate in the fishery, you need a:

• primary commercial fishing licence with
• an RQ symbol, and
• an L1, L2, L3 or L8 symbol
• commercial fisher licence for the person in charge of fishing activities.

You must also hold a filleting permit to fillet quota species. Not all species can be filleted at sea.

While fishing in the rocky reef fishery under a L1, L2, L3 or L8 symbol, a fisher with:

• a C1 or C2 symbol on that licence: may also take crab under those symbols if they hold sufficient crab quota
• a SM symbol on that licence: may also take Spanish mackerel under that symbol if they hold sufficient Spanish mackerel quota
• a RQ symbol on that licence: may also take reef line quota species if they hold sufficient quota of the relevant quota category.

Otherwise, you must not take fish in more than 1 commercial fishery at the same time.

Reporting and monitoring

Commercial fishers must:

• report trip and catch notices
• pre-trip and amending notice
• transhipment notice
• prior notice
• weight notice
• catch disposal record
• retained fish notice
• emergency notice
• complete daily logbooks
• keep sale dockets
• have vessel tracking on their boats
• comply with state marine park and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning rules.

Closures

Annual closures:

• Northern closure season:
  • Two 3-week periods (6 weeks total) each year—dates align with new moon periods in October and November and timed to commence with the reef line fishery closures.
  • Apply to east coast waters north of latitude 22˚S (located slightly north of Stanage Bay, between Mackay and Yeppoon).
• Southern closure season:
  • Two 3-week periods (6 weeks total)— 1 to 21 February and 1 to 21 March each year.
  • Applies to east coast waters south of latitude 22˚S (located slightly north of Stanage Bay, between Mackay and Yeppoon).

Closed area:

• Platypus Bay (near K'gari, formerly Fraser Island)—Spanish mackerel cannot be taken in this area due to the risk of ciguatoxin contamination.

Equipment

• Fish can be taken using fishing lines.
• Restrictions on boats and equipment depend on the fishery symbol you are operating under.
• Fishers cannot fish from land (must fish from a boat) except in those fisheries (hand-harvest) that area allow to fish from land, as per the Fisheries (Commercial Fisheries) Regulation 2019.

Target species

• Red throat emperor (L. miniatus)
• Coral trout
• Common coral trout (P. leopardus)
• Barred-cheek coral trout (P. maculatus)
• Chinese footballer (P. laevis)
• Highfin coral trout (P. oligacanthus)
• Passionfruit trout (P. areolatus)
• Coronation trout (Variola louti)
• White-edge coronation trout (V. albimarginata).

Other species include:

• red emperor (L. sebae)
• stripey snapper (L. carponatus)
• saddletail snapper (L. malabaricus)
• crimson snapper (L. erythropterus)
• goldband snapper (P. multidens and P. typus)
• spangled emperor (L. nebulosus).

Size limits and form requirements

• Size and form requirements apply, as per Schedule 2 of the Fisheries Declaration 2019.