FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ACT 1991

NORTHERN PRAWN FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN 1995

NPF DIRECTION No.105

(revoking NPF Direction No. 98)

GEAR TRIALS

I, Richard McLoughlin, Managing Director of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, as delegate, make 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    30 March 2007

Signed, Richard McLoughlin

Managing Director

Australian Fisheries Management Authority

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Citation

1. This Direction may be cited as NPF Direction No. 105.

Commencement

2. This Direction commences the day after it is registered.

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.

Period of Application

4. This Direction applies for a period beginning on the date this Direction commences and ending on 31 July 2008.

Interpretation

5.1 In this Direction:

"boat"  means a boat that is nominated on statutory fishing rights for the Northern Prawn Fishery;

"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;

"gear trial" means a test, or a series of short tests, of equipment on or towed by a boat and carried out under the following conditions:

(a) the test is conducted in such a way as to avoid the capture of fish, primarily by keeping the cod end of nets fully open at all times; and

(b) fish that are captured in the equipment during the test are returned to the sea as soon as practicable after it becomes apparent that the fish have been captured.

"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              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 determination. 2. Terms defined in the Northern Prawn Fishery Management Plan 1995 include "Northern Prawn Fishery" and "Northern Prawn Fishery area". ]

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

Prohibition on fishing other than gear trials

6.1 No fishing is to be engaged in the areas described in Divisions A, B and C of the Schedule, prior to 2200 UTC on 6 April 2007, other than for the purposes of carrying out a gear trial in accordance with this Direction; and

6.2 A gear trial mentioned in subsection 6.1 may be carried out only during the period commencing at 2200 hours UTC on 23 March 2007 and ending at 2200 hours UTC on 4 April 2007.

Prohibition on gear trials and its application

7.1 A gear trial mentioned in section 6 is prohibited from being carried out unless notification of the intention to carry out a gear trial is made in accordance with this section.

7.2 That not less than 24 hours before commencing a gear trial in an area described in the Schedule - the person conducting the gear trial, or another person on the boat, must notify the AFMA Senior Compliance Officer in accordance with a method described in subsections 7.3 that the boat will be used to carry out the gear trial in the area.

7.3 A notice to the Senior Compliance Officer, AFMA must be given either:

(a) by telephone to (02) 6225 5369 or 0418 468 134; and

(b) by fax to (02) 6225 5442; or

(c) by email to monitoring@afma.gov.au; or

(d) by mail to Box 7051, Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610.

To whom do the prohibitions in sections 6 and 7 not apply?

8. The prohibitions in sections 6 and 7 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 of Direction No. NPFD 98

9. This Direction revokes NPF Direction No. 98 with effect from the date of this Direction.

THE SCHEDULE

GEAR TRIAL AREAS

Division A - Karumba southern gear trial area

The area bounded by the line:

(a) commencing at the point of Latitude 17°20' South, Longitude 140°35' East;

(b) then running north along the meridian of Longitude 140°35' East to its intersection with the parallel of Latitude 17°15' South;

(c) then east along that parallel to its intersection with the meridian of Longitude 140°45' East;

(d) then south along that meridian to its intersection with the parallel of Latitude 17°20' South; and

(e) then west along that parallel to the point of commencement.

Division B - Karumba northern gear trial area

The area bounded by the line:

(a) commencing at the point of Latitude 16°35' South, Longitude 140°25' East;

(b) running then north along the meridian of Longitude 140°25' East to its intersection with the parallel of Latitude 16°30' South;

(c) then east along that parallel to its intersection with the meridian of Longitude 140°30' East;

(d) then south along that meridian to its intersection with the parallel of Latitude 16°35' South; and

(e) then west along that parallel to the point of commencement.

Division C - Darwin gear trial area

The area bounded by the line:

(a) commencing at the point of Latitude 1220' South and Longitude 13036' East;

(b) then running north along that meridian of Longitude 13036' East to its intersection with the parallel of Latitude 12°15' South;

(c) then east along that parallel to its intersection with the meridian Longitude 13041' East;

(d) then south along that meridian to the intersection with the parallel of Latitude 12°20' South; and

(e) then west along that parallel to the point of commencement.