Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984

Fisheries Management Notice No. 50

TORRES STRAIT CRAB FISHERY

PROHIBITION ON TAKING CRAB

(GEAR, SIZE, AREA AND BOAT LENGTH RESTRICTIONS)

i, MARK VAILE, Commonwealth Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Chairman of the Protected Zone Joint Authority, acting on behalf of the Authority in accordance with the powers conferred on the Authority by paragraph 35(1)(a) of the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984, make the following Notice under section 16 of the Act.

Dated this 25th day of March 1999

[signed]

MARK VAILE

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Citation

1. This Notice may be cited as Torres Strait Fisheries Management Notice No. 50.

Commencement

2. This Notice commences on 1 April 1999.

this notice to apply with other notices

3. this Notice applies in conjunction with any other notice in force in the area of the crab
fishery.

Interpretation

4. (a) In this Notice, unless the contrary intention appears:

"crab apparatus" means a crab pot, a dilly or inverted dilly; and

"crab pot" means crab apparatus comprising a cage with a round opening in the top, or
an elongated opening (parallel to the base) in the side, for trapping crabs; and

"crabs" means fish of the infraorders Anomura and Brachyura other than spanner crabs (Ranina ranina); and

"dilly" means fishing apparatus comprising a frame and a net that hangs below the frame's horizontal plane when the apparatus is in use; and

"inverted dilly" means fishing apparatus comprising a frame and a net with a float attached so the net is above the frame's horizontal plane when the apparatus is in use, and includes fishing apparatus known as a suicide dilly or witch's hat; and

"the Act" means the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984; and

(b) terms used but not defined in this Notice have the same meaning as in the Act and the Torres Strait Fisheries Regulations.

PROHIBITIONS (GENERAL)

5. Pursuant to paragraph 16(1)(a) of the Act the taking, processing or carrying of crabs in the area of the crab fishery is prohibited.

EXEMPTIONS FROM PROHIBITIONS

6. Pursuant to paragraph 16(1A)(d) of the Act:

 (a) a person engaged in traditional fishing; or

 (b) except in relation to the taking or carrying of female crabs, a person holding a licence granted under subsections 19(2) or 19(3) of the Act that entitles that person to take or carry crabs;

 is exempt from the prohibitions in paragraph 5.

SIZE LIMITS

7. Pursuant to paragraph 16(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, in the area of the crab fishery it is prohibited, except in the course of traditional fishing, to take, carry or process crabs except where:

(a) when measured across the widest part of the carapace they are not less than 150 millimetres in length; or

(b) if the carapace is missing, when measured across the underside of the body on one side from the notch at the junction of the claw with the body to the notch at the junction of the last leg with the body they are not less than:

(i) in the case of blue swimmer crabs, 37 millimetres in length; and

(ii) in the case of mud crabs, 46 millimetres in length.

BOAT LENGTH RESTRICTION

8. Pursuant to paragraph 16(1)(c) of the Act the taking, carrying or processing of crabs in the area of the crab fishery with the use of a boat longer than 14 metres is prohibited.

gear restriction

9. Pursuant to paragraph 16(1)(c) of the Act, the taking of crabs in the area of the crab fishery
is prohibited except with the use of not more than 50 crab apparatus.

MARKING OF CRAB APPARATUS

10. Pursuant to paragraph 16(1)(p) of the Act, crab apparatus used to take crabs must have:

(a) a tag with the owner's name appearing on it affixed to the crab apparatus; and

(b) a light coloured float of at least 150 millimetres in any dimension attached to the crab apparatus on which is recorded the registration number of the owner's boat.

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