1Citation
This Plan may be cited as the Spanish Mackerel Fishery Management
Plan 2004.
Bills and explanatory statements from legislation.nt.gov.au; second reading speeches from the NT Parliamentary Record (Territory Stories). Links open the official source in a new tab.
This instrument was not passed as a bill, so it has no explanatory memorandum or second reading speech.
This Plan may be cited as the Spanish Mackerel Fishery Management
Plan 2004.
This Plan comes into operation on 1 January 2005.
This Plan applies to the Spanish mackerel fishery declared under section 22 of the Act to be a managed fishery by notice published in Gazette G28 dated 17 July 1991 at page 2.
In this Plan, unless the contrary intention appears:
allowable catch has the meaning in clause 6(1).
dory means a vessel that is used in conjunction with the mother boat for trolling under a licence.
fishery means the fishery to which this Plan applies under clause 3.
floating handline means a line to which is attached only one of the following:
one hook;
one set of joined hooks.
licence means a restricted licence or unrestricted licence.
licensee means the holder of a licence, and includes a person assisting a licensee conduct operations for the purposes of the licence.
lure means a device designed to attract or capable of attracting fish other than bait or berley.
release, in relation to a fish, means release back into the water from where it was taken as soon as practicable after it was taken.
restricted licence has the meaning in clause 8(1).
spanish mackerel means fish of the species Scomberomorus commerson.
spanish mackerel restricted bait net means a net that:
has both pocket and net made of mesh not larger than 65 mm;
has a drop of not more than 5 m; and
(c) excluding the length of any haul lines attached to it, is not longer than 100 m or, if it is used as a surrounding net from a vessel, 200 m.
troll line means a line to which is attached only one of the following:
one hook;
one set of joined hooks attached to the one piece of bait;
one lure to which hooks may be attached.
unrestricted licence has the meaning in clause 9(2).
The objects of this Plan are:
to control the taking of spanish mackerel from the fishery by commercial fishing licensees, Fishing Tour Operator licensees and amateur fishers, whether taken as the principal catch or incidentally when taking fish from another fishery and whether or not the fisher releases the fish;
to ensure the fishery is not endangered, detrimentally affected or overexploited by managing the fishery in accordance with the principles of ecologically sustainable development; and
to encourage fishing in the fishery by maintaining the level and quality of the yield from the fishery and ensuring Aborigines, commercial fishing licensees, Fishing Tour Operator licensees and amateur fishers have adequate access to the fishery.
The allowable catch of spanish mackerel for a year is 450 tonne
.
The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, allocate the allowable catch to a stated person or persons.
The notice may state the method (if any) by which the allowable catch is allocated.
The Director must conduct a review of the management of the fishery if:
the amount of spanish mackerel taken from the fishery in a year is at least 90% of the allowable catch;
the amount of spanish mackerel taken from the fishery in a year is at least 30% less than was taken in the previous year;
the amount of spanish mackerel taken from the fishery in a year by Aborigines, Fishing Tour Operator licensees and amateur fishers is at least 20% less than taken by them in the previous year;
the amount of spanish mackerel taken from the fishery in a year by commercial fishing licensees authorised to take spanish mackerel is at least 20% less than taken by those licensees in the previous year;
the amount of fish of species other than spanish mackerel taken in a year by commercial fishing licensees authorised to take spanish mackerel while fishing for spanish mackerel is more than 10% of the amount of spanish mackerel taken by those licensees in that year; or
the amount of spanish mackerel taken in a year by a person for whom the Minister has determined an allowable catch exceeds that catch.
For subclause (1), the amount of spanish mackerel taken from the fishery in a year is the amount decided by the Director using records, returns and information supplied by persons to the Director for the purposes of the Act.
(1) A restricted licence is a Spanish Mackerel Fishery licence granted to a person because the person held a pelagic licence endorsed for trolling in 1992.
Subject to subclause (3), the licensee may:
take fish in accordance with the licence; and
transfer the licence to another person.
(3) A person to whom the licence is transferred on or after 1 July 1994 may not take fish under the licence but may transfer the licence to another person.
(1) A person who holds 2 restricted licences may surrender both licences to the Territory.
(2) On the surrender of the licences, the Director must issue to the person one Spanish Mackerel Fishery licence (an unrestricted licence).
The licensee may:
take fish in accordance with the licence; and
transfer the licence.
Subject to subclauses (2) and (3), the Director must not grant more licences than the number of licences held before the commencement of this Plan.
If a licensee surrenders a licence to the Territory (other than under clause 9) or a licence is cancelled or expires without being renewed, the number of licences that may be in force is reduced by one.
If a person is issued an unrestricted licence under clause 9 on the surrender of 2 licences, the number of licences that may be in force is reduced by one.
This Part applies to a licensee conducting operations for the purposes of a licence.
A licensee must not take or have possession of the following species:
barramundi (Lates calcarifer);
mud crab (a crab of the genus Scylla);
shark (a fish of the Class Chondricthyes);
threadfin salmon (Polynemus sheridani).
Maximum penalty: $5 000.
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