Spearfishing Restrictions
Spearfishing restrictions are in place to protect and conserve our aquatic resources and to ensure that fishing activities remain sustainable. With this is mind it’s important to make sure that we're well within our limits, whether it's our size limit, our possession limit, our take limit, or limits on where we’re hunting.
Size Limit
We want to double check whether the species we’re targeting has a minimum size limit, and only be taking fish over that size limit. Some species also have a maximum size limit. For fish like blue spot coral trout, if they're over 80 centimetres, they're off-limits. Make sure that we understand the minimum and maximum size limit of the species we’re targeting before we start hunting.
Possession Limit
There's only a maximum number of fish you can catch per day. A possession limit is an actual limit to how many of those species you can have within your possession, whether you're at home or on the boat. If fisheries turn up to your door, and you've got 10 extra snapper over your possession limit, it doesn't matter if you were well within your limits on that day of diving. If they find it at home in your possession, you can still be taken for that, unless you purchase it from a registered fish receiver like a fish shop. Never take more than what you need.
Bag Limit
Aside from possession, there’s also the bag limit. Your bag limit is what you can have on you while you're out in the boat, or out diving on headlands in a day. So, make sure that you understand the bag limit for each species that you're targeting.
Fishing hours
So before you jump in the water, make sure to call your local fisheries office first and know the different spearfishing restrictions. You can use different spearfishing apps. New South Wales has a fish smart app. Queensland has Queensland recreational fishing, all available on your app store. These apps will give you some really good information like the species and their limits, and also the different zone meanings.
In some areas, the rules for targeting certain species can be quite specific and strict. For example, you can't actually chase barramundi outside of the hours of 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. What that means is, you can't shoot them outside of those hours. You can only chase them within daylight hours. Understanding that every single state has different rules is important. You have to make sure that you stay well within the spearfishing restrictions set by the government.
If you need additional tips and guidance on how to properly get started with spearfishing, visit theAdreno Spearfishing Blog now! You can also check out our massive range ofspearfishing gear at the lowest prices!
