Vessel tracking - Queensland

Description

Vessel tracking helps to ensure the sustainability of Queensland's fisheries. Monitoring commercial fishing activity allows more informed and responsive management of our fisheries resources upon which many commercial operators and regional communities depend. Data from vessel tracking is used to:

  • monitor quota in near real time (e.g. deducting fishing days from individual's quota)
  • monitor compliance with area and seasonal closures (including marine park zones)
  • provide intelligence and evidence for investigations
  • help validate logbook data on where and when fishing occurred
  • provide fishing effort data that is used in stock assessments to estimate the biomass of a fish stock
  • help inform fishery management changes that may be needed.

Primary commercial fishing licences that are endorsed to operate in the following fisheries must have an approved and registered vessel tracking unit on their primary boats and powered tender boats: A1, A2, B1, C1, C2, C3, D, J1, K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6, K7, K8, L1, L2, L3, L4, L8, M1, M2, N1, N2, N3, N4, N10, N11, N12, N13, R, T1, T2, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8 and T9.

Commercial fishing operations that are required to have vessel tracking on their boats must use units that are on the Fisheries Queensland approved unit list and comply with the installation and maintenance standard when configuring, installing and maintaining vessel tracking units. You must confirm that your vessel tracking unit is polling before you go fishing.

You are required to nominate and maintain a boat communication notice by which an officer approved by the Chief Executive can communicate with the commercial fisher in control of the boat immediately. The boat communication notice can be given through your FishNet Secure account for each primary commercial fishing licence you hold (under My Boat Contact).

Service type

Regulatory Obligation

An obligation defined in law. A business must comply with relevant services.

Eligibility requirements

Commercial fishing operations acting under an authority that holds any of the following symbols: A1, A2, B1, C1, C2, C3, D, J1, K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6, K7, K8, L1, L2, L3, L4, L8, M1, M2, N1, N2, N3, N4, N10, N11, N12, N13, R, T1, T2, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8 and T9.

Transfer process

Transfer

Vessel tracking units can be transferred to primary commercial fishing boats or tender boats that are held under the same client name with Fisheries Queensland. When transferring a vessel tracking unit, the vessel cannot go to sea until the commercial fisher in control of the fishing operation has confirmed that the VMS vessel tracking unit is working properly.

Administering agency

Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Fisheries Queensland

Contact details

Contact Email, Phone and Address Details for this service in simple two column table format, header then data.