Catch reporting requirements for quota fisheries

Certain fisheries have controls on total allowable catch and effort units. These are collectively referred to as 'quota fisheries'.

Total allowable catch

Some quota fisheries in Queensland have a total allowable catch limit, which is set annually. Examples include the Spanish mackerel, coral reef and spanner crab fisheries.

Effort units

Trawl effort units convert to a fishing day based on the hull size of the boat being used. This type of quota applies to the east coast trawl fishery, which has 6 trawl management regions. Regional trawl effort units are required to fish in specific trawl regions.

Monitoring quota fisheries

Quota fisheries are monitored via a combination of:

• vessel tracking
• automated interactive voice response (AIVR) system
• logbook data
• compliance checks by Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol.

Transferring your quota

Quota are transferable between authority holders with appropriate fishery symbols. Quotas described in the conditions of an authority can generally be transferred by 2 holders applying to amend their licences. 1 party applies to decrease the quantity of quota by an agreed amount, and the other party applies to increase the quantity of quota by the same amount.

Transfers of quota not described in conditions can be either:

• temporary - provides the transferee with use of the quota until the end of the season in which the transfer occurs
• or
• permanent - the transferee becomes the owner of the quota.

Paper-based transfers of temporary and permanent quota require the quota holder (owner) and transferee (purchaser/lessee) to complete sections of the form, and their signatures must be witnessed. You can use these transfer and amendment forms:

• Register transfer quota or effort unit application
• Register temporary transfer of quota or effort unit application
• Authority amendment request.

Temporary transfers are processed online by the quota holder (owner), using FishNet Secure. To do this, the quota holder must be a registered FishNet Secure user, and must know the boat mark under which the quota will be used.

Register for FishNet Secure.

Automated interactive voice response (AIVR) system

If you are a commercial fisher working in catch-based quota fisheries listed below, you must report your catch via Fisheries Queensland's AIVR system.

The following guides have details about reporting procedures for specific fisheries:

• East coast fisheries and Gulf of Carpentaria crab fishery
• Gulf of Carpentaria shark and ray fishery
• Gulf of Carpentaria black jewfish fishery

Fisheries Queensland uses notices given through the AIVR to monitor quota usage, and uses a chain of auditable records to detect the possible development of a black market for regulated fish.

Landing and transport codes

You need to provide landing location or transport vessel details whenever you report a pre-trip, emergency or transhipment notice through the AIVR system. You can enter landing location details as either:

• a landing code
• the latitude and longitude for a place.

Refer to the transport and landing codes. These codes are updated regularly.

If you regularly land at a location that is not listed, or if the details of the place (especially the latitude and longitude) are incomplete or incorrect, please call Fisheries Queensland immediately on 13 25 23.