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Bag and size limits - tidal waters
The page lists the bag and size limits for fishing in tidal waters. For the limits that apply in fresh waters see Bag and size limits - fresh waters.
On this page:
- Size, take and possession limits - tidal waters
- Size, take and possession limits (PDF download)
- Why do we have size limits?
- Why do we have bag limits?
Size, take and possession limits - tidal waters
The following legal limits apply to #sh taken in Queensland waters. A take and possession limit is the total number of #sh a person may take or possess at any one time.
| Species | Legal size (cm) | Take and possession limit | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All cods and groupers | 38 min | Combined limit of 5 in total of all cod species | ||
|
Cod exceptions | ||||
| Camouflage rockcod | 50 min 100 max | |||
| Estuary cod | see listing in following table | |||
| Flowery cod | 50 min 100 max | |||
| Greasy rockcod | 38 min 100 max | |||
| Maori cod | 45 min | |||
| Barramundi cod | No take | |||
| Potato cod | No take | |||
| Queensland grouper | No take | |||
| All coral trout | 38 min | Combined limit of 7 in total of all trout species | ||
|
Coral trout exceptions | ||||
| Chinese footballer trout (blue spot trout) | 50 min 80 max | |||
| All emperors | 25 min | 5 per species | ||
|
Emperor exceptions | ||||
| Red-throat sweetlip | 38 min | 8 | ||
| Long nose emperor | 38 min | 5 | ||
| Spangled emperor | 45 min | 5 | ||
| Red emperor | 55 min | 5 | ||
| All fusiliers | No limit | No limit | ||
| All parrotfishes | 25 min | 5 per species | ||
| All surgeonfishes | 25 min | 5 per species | ||
| All sweetlips (excluding red throat sweetlip) |
25 min | 5 per species | ||
| All tropical snappers and sea perches | 25 min | 5 per species | ||
| Tropical snappers and sea perch exceptions | ||||
| Crimson (rosy) jobfish and lavender jobfish | 38 min | Combined limit of 8 in total for both species | ||
| Chinaman fish | No take | |||
| Crimson seaperch (small mouth nannygai) and saddletail seaperch (large mouth nannygai) | 40 min | Combined limit of 9 in total for both species | ||
| Flame snapper | 38 min | 5 | ||
| Goldband snapper | 38 min | 5 | ||
| Hussar | 25 min | 10 | ||
| Green jobfish | 38 min | 5 | ||
| Paddletail | No take | |||
| Red bass | No take | |||
| Red emperor | 55 min | 5 | ||
| Ruby snapper | 38 min | 5 | ||
| Small-toothed jobfish | 38 min | 5 | ||
| All wrasse | 25 min | 5 per species | ||
| Wrasse exceptions | ||||
| Hump-headed Maori | No take | |||
| Tuskfish (all species) | 30 min | Combined limit of 6 in total for all tuskfish species | ||
| A closed season applies to coral reef fin fish. See Closed seasons - tidal waters for details. In addition to individual take and possession limits for each species above, all coral reef fin fish species have a combined take and possession limit of 20. For a complete list of coral reef species see the Fisheries (Coral Reef Fin Fish) Management Plan 2003. | ||||
| Species | Legal size (cm) | Take and possession limit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian bass* | 30 min | 2 | |
| Barramundi* | |||
| East coast | 58 min 120 max | 5 | |
| Gulf of Carpentaria | 60 min 120 max | 5 | |
| Bêche de mer (sea cucumber) excluding black teatfish (take and possession limit of 0) | No limit | 5 | |
| Bream (pikey and yellow finned) | 23 min | No limit | |
| Black lipped pearl oyster | 9 min | No limit | |
| Cod (estuary) | 35 min 120 max | 10 | |
| Crab | |||
| Blue swimmer | 11.5 | No limit | |
| Mud | 15 min | 10 | |
| Spanner* | 10 min | 20 | |
| Dolphin fish | 45 min | No limit | |
| Eels | |||
| Long-finned | 30 min | Combined limit of 10 in total of all species | |
| Short-finned | 30 min | ||
| South Pacific | 30 min | ||
| Flathead | |||
| Bar-tailed | 30 min | No limit | |
| Dusky (mud) | 40 min 70 max | 5 | |
| Sand | 30 min | No limit | |
| Giant trevally | |||
| East coast | No limit | No limit | |
| Gulf of Carpentaria | 35 min | No limit | |
| Gold lipped pearl oyster | 13 min 23 max | No limit | |
| Grass emperor (grass sweetlip) | 30 min | No limit | |
| Grunter bream (small spotted and spotted) | |||
| East coast | 30 min | No limit | |
| Gulf of Carpentaria | 40 min | 10 whole fish or 20 fillets | |
| Jewel fish | |||
| Gulf of Carpentaria | 45 min | No limit | |
| Jewfish | |||
| Silver | 45 min | No limit | |
| Black (east coast) | 45 min | 10 | |
| Black (Gulf of Carpentaria) | 60 min 120 max | 5 with no more than 2 over 100 cm | |
| Kingfish | |||
| Black | 75 min | 10 | |
| Yellowtail | 50 min | No limit | |
| Large-scale sea perch (fingermark) | 35 min | 10 | |
| Luderick | 23 min | No limit | |
| Mackerel | |||
| Grey/broad-barred | 50 min | 10 | |
| Spanish/narrow-barred | 75 min | 3 | |
| Queensland school (east coast) | 50 min | 30 | |
| Queensland school (Gulf of Carpentaria) | 50 min | 10 | |
| Shark | 50 min | no limit | |
| Spotted (east coast) | 60 min | 5 | |
| Spotted (Gulf of Carpentaria) | 50 min | 10 | |
| Mangrove jack | |||
| East coast | 35 min | No limit | |
| Gulf of Carpentaria | 35 min | 5 | |
| Molluscs any-excluding oysters | No limit | 50 | |
| Mulloway | 45 min | 10 | |
| Perch pearl | 35 min | 5 | |
| Prawns | No limit | 10 litres# | |
| # No more than 10 prawns with their heads or any other part removed, unless the removal was to process the prawns for immediate consumption. | |||
| Queenfish | |||
| East coast | No limit | No limit | |
| Gulf of Carpentaria | 45 min | No limit | |
| Salmon | |||
| King/Burnett (east coast) | 40 min | No limit | |
| King/Burnett (Gulf of Carpentaria) | 60 min | 5 | |
| Blue/Cooktown (east coast) | 40 min | No limit | |
| Blue/Cooktown (Gulf of Carpentaria) | 40 min | 20 | |
| Snapper | 35 min | 5 | |
| Sea mullet | 30 min | No limit | |
| Tailor | 30 min | 20 | |
| 72 hours or more on Fraser Island | 30 min | 30 | |
| Tarwhine | 23 min | No limit | |
| Teraglin | |||
| Silver | 30 min | No limit | |
| Jew | 38 min | 5 | |
| Trochus | 8 min 12.5 max | 50 | |
| Tropical rock lobster* (painted crayfish Panulirus ornatus) | 115 mm tail min 90 mm carapace min |
North of 14° south lat. 3 per person/6 per boat South of 14° south lat. 5 per person/10 per boat | |
| All other Panulirus species | No limit | As above | |
| Wahoo | 75 min | 10 | |
| Whiting (golden lined and sand) | 23 min | No limit | |
| Worms (including part thereof) | |||
| Beach | No limit | 30 | |
| Blood | No limit | 50 | |
| *A closed season applies to these species. See Closed seasons - tidal waters for details. | |||
| No-take species | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Barramundi cod | Chinaman fish | Hump-headed Maori wrasse | Paddletail |
| Potato cod |
Queensland grouper |
Red bass | |
Why do we have size limits?
In Queensland, there are limits on the size of #sh that can be legally taken for many species. There are minimum size limits and also some maximum size limits.
Size limits are typically based on biological research into each species' reproductive cycles. Minimum size limits generally allow #sh to spawn at least once and contribute to the population before they are taken.
However, in some species larger individuals contribute more to the population, which is why maximum size limits apply. For example, most barramundi begin their lives as males and later, as they grow larger, become females. A maximum size limit is applied to protect large females and to allow them to spawn.
Why do we have bag limits?
A bag limit is the number of #sh that one person can legally take and keep. These limits serve several purposes. They:
- conserve heavily-exploited species
- conserve species that are susceptible to capture
- share the catch more equitably among anglers
- reduce the illegal marketing of #sh
- send out a message promoting ethical and responsible behaviour when using a limited natural resource.
Resources
-
Table of size, take and possession limits (PDF, 218 kB)
Includes the size, take and possession limits for both fresh and tidal waters.
Related information
If you have difficulty accessing files from this website please contact us.
Author: Peter Tanner
Page maintained by Julie Van Melzen
Last updated 16 July 2008
