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DIRECTION NOT TO ENGAGE IN FISHING

Fisheries Management Act 1991
Subsection 41A(2)

NORTHERN PRAWN FISHERY (Closures)
DIRECTION No. 172

I, JAMES FINDLAY, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, as delegate under delegation No. 1 of 2011 made on 28^th January 2011 from the Commission, make the following Direction under subsection 41A(2) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991.

Dated:      4   December 2015

James Findlay
Chief Executive Officer,
Australian Fisheries Management Authority

Citation

1. This Direction may be cited as the Northern Prawn Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 172.

Commencement

2.This Direction commences the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Cessation

1. This Direction is repealed on 30 September 2025 unless earlier revoked.

Interpretation

4.1In 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 parindicus and Thenus australiensis;

“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;

“equipment” means equipment for fishing;

“fishing” means the commercial fishing activities that are referred to in section 14 of the Northern Prawn Fishery Management Plan 1995;

“rock lobster” means a whole lobster of the species Panulirus ornatus and/ or a lobster tail of that species;

“trip” means the period between departing port and 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; and

“HG” means the headed and gutted weight of fish in kilograms.

4.2For 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.

4.3For the purposes of this Direction, fish and/or bugs that are on board a boat are presumed to have been taken: during the current trip; or, if the boat is not on a trip, the most recent trip.

4.4Terms 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:    Terms defined in the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Act) have the same meanings in this Direction.

4.5This Direction is to be read consistently with other Directions made under the Fisheries Management Act 1991.

4.6The origin of geographical coordinates used in this Direction is the Australian Geodetic Datum 1966 (AGD66).

To whom this Direction applies

5.1This 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.

Prohibitions on taking bugs

6.1            Fishing is not to be engaged in in the Northern Prawn Fishery for:

(a)bugs with a carapace width less than 60mm; or

(b)egg-bearing female bugs.

Direction not to engage in fishing

7.1Fishing is not to be engaged in the Northern Prawn Fishery for:

(a)the species named in Part 1 of Schedule 1 (the First Species) in excess of a combined catch of one kilogram per trip;

(b)the species named in Part 2 of Schedule 1 (the Second Species) in excess of a combined catch of 10 individual fish per trip;

(c)for mudcrabs in excess of a catch of 10 individuals per trip;

(d)for rock lobsters in excess of a catch of 6 individuals per trip;

(e)for species named in Schedule 2; or

(f)for tuna or tuna-like species.

Exemptions to the prohibition in clause 7

8.1The prohibition in subclause 7.1(a) 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

8.2The prohibition in subclause 7.1 does not apply:

(a)if the trip ends during any other period of the year outside of the period defined in subclause 8.1(a) during the period of application of the Direction; and

(b)if no more than a cumulative total of 50 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

8.3The prohibition in subclause 7.1(f) 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.

8.4The prohibitions in clause 7.1 do not apply to a person if the person is fishing in accordance with another plan of management in force under the Act, or a law of a State or Territory that is in force in relation to the Northern Prawn Fishery area.

Revocation

1. This Direction revokes the NPF Direction No. 152 and the Northern Prawn Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 158 with effect from the commencement 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