DIRECTION NOT TO ENGAGE IN FISHING
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Subsection 41A(2)
NORTHERN PRAWN FISHERY (Closures)
DIRECTION No. 158
I, James Findlay, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, as delegate under delegation No. 1 of 2011 made on 28th January 2011 from the Commission, make the following Direction under subsection 41A(2) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991.
Dated: 21 March 2012
James Findlay
Chief Executive Officer,
Australian Fisheries Management Authority
Citation
1. This Direction may be cited as Northern Prawn Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 158
Commencement
2. This Direction commences the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments
Cessation
3. This Direction ceases on 31 March 2017 unless earlier revoked.
Interpretation
4.1 In this Direction:
“boat” means a boat that is nominated on statutory fishing rights for the Northern Prawn Fishery;
“fishing” means the commercial fishing activities that are referred to in section 14 of the Northern Prawn Fishery Management Plan 1995;
“equipment” means equipment for fishing;
“rock lobster” shall be taken to mean a whole lobster of the species Panulirus ornatus and/ or a lobster tail of that species;
“trip” means the period between the unloading of a catch, or part of a catch, to a mothership or port or any other point where catch is unloaded;
“UTC” means Coordinated Universal Time, the time scale based on the second (SI), maintained by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. For the purposes of this Direction UTC is equivalent to mean solar time at the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude), formerly expressed in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) ;
“W” means the whole weight of fish in kilograms;
“GG” means the gilled and gutted weight of fish in kilograms;
“F” means the fish fillet weight in kilograms;
“HG” means the headed and gutted weight of fish in kilograms.
4.2 For the purposes of this Direction, the master of a boat is, at any time, presumed to have taken all of the fish present on the boat at that time and, in so doing, to have been acting on behalf of the holder of the statutory fishing rights in respect of which the boat is nominated.
4.3 Terms used in this Direction that are defined for the purposes of the Northern Prawn Fishery Management Plan 1995 have the same meanings in this Direction as they have in that Plan.
Notes: 1. Terms defined in the Fisheries Management Act 1991 have the same meanings in this Direction.
4.4 This Direction is to be read consistently with other Directions made under the Fisheries Management Act 1991.
4.5 The origin of geographical coordinates used in this Direction is the Australian Geodetic Datum 1966 (AGD66).
To whom this Direction applies
5. This Direction applies to a holder of statutory fishing rights in the Northern Prawn Fishery, and to a person acting on behalf of the holder, when fishing in the Northern Prawn Fishery area.
Direction not to engage in fishing
6.1 No fishing for the species named in Part 1 of Schedule 1 (the First Species) can be undertaken in this fishery in excess of a combined catch of one kilogram per trip.
6.2 No fishing for the species named in Part 2 of Schedule 1 (the Second Species) can be undertaken in this fishery in excess of a combined catch of 10 individual fish per trip.
6.3 No fishing for mudcrabs can be undertaken in this fishery in excess of a catch of 10 individuals per trip.
6.4 No fishing for rock lobsters can be undertaken in this fishery in excess of a catch of 6 individuals per trip.
6.5 Fishing for species named in Schedule 2 is prohibited.
6.6 Fishing for tuna or tuna-like species is prohibited.
6.7 Fish that are on board a boat are presumed to have been taken during:
(a) the current trip; or
(b) if the boat is not on a trip, the most recent trip.
Exemptions to the prohibition in clause 6
7.1 The prohibition in clause 6.1 does not apply:
(a) if the trip ends during the period beginning on 1 March in a year and ending on 30 June in the same year during the period of application of the Direction; and
(b) if no more than a cumulative total of 550 kilograms (whole weight) (the First Weight Limit) of the First Species are taken per trip; and
(c) if the First Weight Limit or any part thereof has been processed, the whole weight equivalent of the processed First Weight Limit or part thereof is determined using the conversion factors:
W = GG x 1.1
W = F x 2.6
W = HG x 1.4
7.2 The prohibition in clause 6.1 does not apply:
(a) if the trip ends during any other period of the year outside of the period defined in clause 7.1 (a) during the period of application of the Direction; and
(b) if no more than a cumulative total of 55 kilograms (whole weight) (the Second Weight Limit) of the First Species are taken per trip; and
(c) if the Second Weight Limit or any part thereof has been processed, the whole weight equivalent of the processed Second Weight Limit or part thereof is determined using the conversion factors:
W = GG x 1.1
W = F x 2.6
W = HG x 1.4
7.3 The prohibition in clause 6.6 above does not apply if:
(a) the only tuna and tuna-like species on board the vessel are longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol); and
(b) no more than 10 longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) are taken per trip.
7.4 The prohibitions in clause 6 do not apply to a person if the person is fishing in accordance with another plan of management in force under the Management Act, or a law of a State or Territory that is in force in relation to the Northern Prawn Fishery area.
Revocation
8. This Direction revokes NPF Direction No. 106 and NPF Direction No. 118 with effect from the date of this Direction.
SCHEDULE 1
Part 1
Common name
Scientific name
Saddle Tailed Snapper
Lutjanus malabaricus
Red Snapper
Lutjanus erythropterus
Red Emperor
Lutjanus sebae
Part 2
Common name
Scientific name
Broad-barred Spanish Mackerel
Scomberomorus semifasciatus
Coral trouts, Rock cods etc
Serranidae family
Gold Band Snapper
Pristipomoides multidens
Longtail Tuna
Thunnus tonggol
Narrow -barred Spanish Mackerel
Scomberomorus commerson
Emperors, sea breams
Lethrinidae family
SCHEDULE 2
Common name
Scientific name
Barramundi
Lates calcarifer
Black jewfish
Protonidea diacanthus
Blue salmon
Eleutheronema tetradactylum
Coral
Jewel fish (Yellow Jew)
Nibea squammosa
Pearl shell
Pinctada spp
Queenfish
Scomberoides lysan;
Scomberoides commersonianus
Spotted grunter-bream
Pomadasys kaakan
Threadfin salmon
Polydactylus sheridani
Beche-de-mer
Class Holothuroidae
Trochus
Class Trochidae
Sharks, rays and skates
Subclass Elasmobranchii
