Inshore Trawl
The Trawl (Inshore) Fishery is a long-standing Victorian fishery established as a crustacean fishery for bugs, crabs and prawns. It complements the larger Commonwealth South East Trawl Fishery, which primarily targets finfish.
The non-specific nature of trawl fishing can result in other species being taken as bycatch. To manage this, a limited amount of bycatch of specified species, such as octopus, is permitted in the fishery while trawling for prawns, bugs and crabs.
Regulation of Trawling in Victorian Coastal Waters
The Victorian and Commonwealth Governments share responsibility for the management of fisheries in the waters off Victoria’s coast through an Offshore Constitutional Agreement and associated Memorandum of Understanding documents and relate to the types of fish that may be taken, or the method by which fish are taken. Some fisheries are managed under Victorian law by the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) and others are managed under Commonwealth law by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA).
Specific to the trawl fishing method, AFMA has jurisdiction over all trawl fishing for finfish in Victorian coastal waters, while the VFA is responsible for managing trawl fishing for bay bugs, eastern king prawns, sand crabs and school prawns.
More information can be found in the fact sheet.
The Trawl (Inshore) Fishery is managed using a range of controls including:
- Permitted species: Licence holders and operators are only permitted to target bugs, crabs and prawns. Select species of finfish are only permitted to be taken as bycatch, while others are prohibited.
- Limited entry: There are currently approximately 54 licence holders within the fishery
- Gear restrictions: Authorised equipment includes trawl nets with a headline length not exceeding 33 metres or a combination of trawl nets with a combined head line length not exceeding 66 metres, or any other equipment specified on the licence.
- Catch limits: Weight, size and other limits apply to the take and possession of certain species under a Trawl (Inshore) Fishery Access Licence.
- Vessel monitoring systems: are required for vessels operating in the Trawl (Inshore) Fishery and are used as a tool to help the VFA monitor the position, course and speed of vessels in the fleet.
- Octopus bycatch limits: To ensure the octopus stock in eastern Victoria remains sustainable as it also supports the Victorian Octopus Pot Fishery, the VFA introduced a catch and possession limit of 100kg of octopus taken as bycatch on any day or trawling trip. The arrangements also include a fishery-wide limit of 30 tonnes for the combined weight of octopus taken over one year. New weighing and post-fishing reporting requirements support these limits which were introduced through a Fisheries Notice in December 2024.
- Seasonal snapper limits: Licence holders operating in the eastern snapper zone can only take an aggregated maximum of 10 tonnes of snapper, while licence holders operating in the eastern snapper zone can take an aggregated maximum of 35 tonnes. If the aggregated amount of snapper is exceeded in a zone, a daily limit of 50 kilograms of snapper per day is applied to all license holders fishing in that zone.
There are a range of regulations relating to the fishery, including reporting requirements, in Fisheries Regulations 2019 (link). Fisheries Notices are also implemented from time to time to assist in the management of the fishery. You can find a list of all of the Fisheries Notices currently in place here.