Queensland brings in sweeping recreational fishing reforms

The September 1 changes now include annual seasonal closures for both snapper and pearl perch from July 15 to August 15, an increase in the catch size from 35cm to 38cm.

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The big changes, though, come for possession limits, where some fish stocks have fallen to dangerously low levels.

The bag limit for snapper remains at four, the same level set by the government in 2011, but the bag limit for pearl perch now drops from five to four. If you are heading out on a charter boat, the extended bag limit for charter operators once enjoyed has been revoked.

To help cut down on the lucrative black market trade, the boat limits for mud crab, prawns, snapper, black jewfish, barramundi, shark, Spanish mackerel, sea cucumber and tropical rock lobster is now limited to two times the legal possession limit.

Recreational fishers will now be limited to five tropical rock lobsters and 20 blue swimmer crabs.

For anyone who likes their pipis, the bag limit for molluscs and gastropods has reduced from 50 to 30.

Any species that does not have a prescribed bag limit is now capped to a general possession limit of 20, although no possession limit applies to baitfish such as southern herring, common hardyhead, Australian sardine, Australian anchovy, silver biddy, saltwater yabby, soldier crab and “non-regulated” worms such as mangrove worms.

If you’re into oysters, you now have to eat them on the spot.

Australian bass fishers gain from the reforms, with the bag limit from stocked impoundments lifted form just two to five.

Bloodworms – also known as Cribb Island worms – now have an official limit of 50. If you’re digging for them, you now have to reinstate any seagrass you disturb “in an upright position back in the same location”.

Hammerhead sharks and white teatfish – a species of sea cucumber – are now officially on the no-take register.

King threadfin have had their size limit increased from 60cm to 65cm along the eastern coast of Queensland, while the minimum size for Mary River cod has increased to 60cm.

If you’re chasing Murray cod, the maximum size is now 110cm.

Mulloway and scaly jewfish now must be kept whole while onboard a vessel, while if you like chasing black jewfish, once the commercial fishers reach their bag limits, the fish will be off-limits to everyone including recreational anglers.

Queensland Fisheries Minister Mark Furner said the changes were part of the government’s plan to protect fish for the future.

“Some of our fish stocks like scallops, snapper and pearl perch are at risk, with stock levels under the nationally recommended 20 per cent biomass level,” Furner said.

“If we do nothing now, we will have to take more drastic steps like they are proposing in South Australia with the closure of the snapper season for three years.

“Quite simply, if there are no fish, there is no fishing industry here in Queensland,” he said.

“Introducing catch limits for at-risk species and continuing to crack down on illegal fishing will help us rebuild numbers.”