Commercial Fishing Guide and Supplements

The Commercial Fishing Guide and its accompanying supplements explain how Victoria’s commercial fisheries must operate under the Fisheries Act 1995, Fisheries Regulations 2019 and other management arrangements to ensure the sustainable harvest of Victoria’s valuable fish resources.

The purpose of the CFG and its supplements

The Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) has a responsibility to inform and educate Licence holders and Licence operators about their responsibilities. This is because, by law, all commercial Licence holders and Licence operators are responsible for knowing, understanding and complying with relevant Acts, Regulations and associated management arrangements.

The Commercial Fishing Guide and its supplements help commercial Licence holders and operators to:
■ Clarify their obligations and responsibilities
■ Standardise the interpretation of selected regulations.

These documents contain all the information potential licence holders and operators need to show they have a good understanding of the legislative and regulatory provisions relevant to the fishery they wish to enter and operate in.

The Victorian public can also read these documents to learn more about how our commercial fisheries are managed.

Available documents

Click the link to download

• Commercial Fishing Guide (CFG)
• Abalone Supplement
• Giant Crab supplement
• Rock lobster supplement
• Octopus supplement
• Pipi supplement
• Western Port and Port Phillip Bay supplement
• Corner Inlet Supplement

The structure of these documents.

The Commercial Fishing Guide (CFG) is a plain English overview of the regulations and rules for all commercial fisheries operating in Victorian waters.

Each supplement focuses on a fishery licence class and provides further details of regulations and rules that apply only to that specific fishery (licence class).

To fully understand a fishery, read both the CFG and the specific fishery supplement.

These documents are working documents

The CFG and supplements are working documents that will be updated whenever further clarification or interpretation of VFA rules is required.

We will also add new supplements for other license classes to this page when they are completed.

You can download and print the PDF versions as required.