FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ACT 1991
NORTHERN PRAWN FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN 1995
NPF DIRECTION No. 117
BUG SIZE LIMITS
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority makes the following Direction under section 17(5A) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and section 25(1) of the Northern Prawn Fishery Management Plan 1995.
Dated this 25 June 2008
The Common seal of the Australian
Fisheries Management Authority
was affixed in accordance with a
resolution of the Board
Peter Witheridge
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Citation
1. This Direction may be cited as NPF Direction No. 117.
Commencement
2. This Direction commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Application
3. 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.
Period of Application
4. This Direction applies for a period beginning on the date this Direction commences and ending on 31 March 2012.
Interpretation
5.1 In this Direction:
"boat" means a boat that is nominated on statutory fishing rights for the Northern Prawn Fishery;
“bugs” means fish of the species Thenus indicus and Thenus orientalis;
“carapace width” means the width of the carapace when measured at its widest point;
“egg-bearing female bugs” includes bugs that have been ‘scrubbed’ to remove any eggs and includes bugs that have had their eggs removed using chemicals;
“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;
“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).
5.2 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.
5.3 A term used in this Direction that is defined for the purposes of the Northern Prawn Fishery Management Plan 1995 has the same meaning in this Direction as it has in that plan.
[Notes: 1. Terms defined in the Fisheries Management Act 1991 have the same meanings in this Direction.
2. Terms defined in the Northern Prawn Fishery Management Plan 1995 include "Northern Prawn Fishery" and "Northern Prawn Fishery area".]
5.4 This Direction is to be read consistently with other Directions made under the Northern Prawn Fishery Management Plan 1995.
5.5 The origin of geographical coordinates used in this Direction is the Australian Geodetic Datum 1966 (AGD66).
Prohibitions on taking bugs
6.1 No fishing for the following types of fish can be engaged in the fishery:
(a) bugs with a carapace width less than 75mm; and/ or
(b) female egg-bearing bugs.
6.2 Bugs 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.
6.3 Bugs that are taken in accordance with this Direction must be retained whole.
To whom do the prohibitions in clause 6 not apply
7. The prohibition in clause 6.1 does 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.
