|
New Fisheries Regulations are now in place
Fact sheets | New Recreational Fishing Guide and Fish Length Rulers | Why change the Fisheries Regulations? | Review process | Contact us
Victoria’s Fisheries Regulations have changed.
Victoria’s new Fisheries Regulations 2009 commenced on 2 March 2009. The new regulations help ensure that the community's fisheries are sustainable and shared fairly into the future.
The new Regulations include changes to recreational fishing bag and size limits for popular species such as: trout, bream, flathead, redfin, Murray cod, mulloway, yellowtail kingfish, elephantfish, silver trevally, luderick, Australian bass and estuary perch; and an extension of the no-take protection zone for molluscs (excluding bivalves) across the entire Victorian coast.
Other changes will affect commercial fishers and aquaculture operations.
Fact Sheets
It is important that commercial and recreational fishers are aware of these changes and adjust their fishing practices accordingly. Fisheries Victoria has developed fact sheets explaining the changes for:
The full text of the Fisheries Regulations 2009 (which become effective on 2 March 2009), is available from Victorian Legislation (external link).
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these documents. A free copy can be downloaded from Adobe Acrobat (external link).
New Recreational Fishing Guide and Fish Length Rulers
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide is the primary way that Fisheries Victoria communicates regulations to recreational fishers.
The Recreational Fishing Guide 2009/2010 is now available. The new Guide has been distributed over 900 tackle shops and other fishing retailers that sell recreational fishing licences and is avilable free of charge. A new 60cm Fish Length Ruler with updated minimum legal lengths for popular recreational target species is also available free of charge from major recreational fishing licence sellers.
Both of these products are also available through DPI offices or by ringing the DPI Customer Service Centre on 136 186.
Why change the Fisheries Regulations?
Under Victoria’s statutory rules, regulations automatically expire 10 years after creation. The previous Fisheries Regulations were made in 1998, and following a 1 year extension, expired in March 2009.
Fisheries Victoria led a process to review the regulatory framework. The new regulations have been prepared to improve their overall clarity and effectiveness. Bag and size limits were also reviewed to simplify these regulations, to help ensure the sustainability of our fisheries and share the value into the future.
Review Process
Draft Fisheries Regulations and an associated Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) were released in late May 2008 for 60 days of public consultation. More than 800 public submissions were received. Fisheries Victoria thanks everyone who took the time to provide comments for their interest in the management of Victoria's fisheries resources.
The Minister responsible for fisheries, the Hon Joe Helper MP, considered the suggested changes and announced his decision on 22 January 2009 to make new fisheries regulations.
A copy of the Minister's Notice of Decision (PDF 110KB) is available. This notice also identifies where changes have been made from the regulations in the exposure draft released for public comment in May 2008.
A summary of the issues raised in the written submissions and the decisions made in finalising the new regulations is available for your reference in the Issues and Decisions Table (PDF 298KB). If you would like more feedback about your submission, please contact the DPI Customer Service Centre as listed bellow.
Contact us
Please contact the DPI Customer Service Centre on 136 186 if you have any questions about applying the new regulations.
|
