Biosecurity Control Measures
Check. Clean. Dry.
Our oceans and Bays are special places. To help protect the plants and animals that live there please;
Check: All vessels, fishing, diving and surfing equipment and remove anything including, water, sand or seaweed. Check your catch for signs of illness.
Clean: boats at home or at a commercial car wash. Wash your wetsuits, fishing and diving equipment with fresh, soapy water.
Dry: all boating, fishing and diving equipment completely before heading out into the water again.
You must not use abalone as bait or throw abalone shell or gut into the ocean.
Vessels
Clean all organic matter, like seaweed, sand or anything that may have come from the ocean floor, from inside and outside the vessel should be removed
Boats, dive equipment and all other fishing equipment must be cleaned away from the water's edge so that soapy water does not affect the health of waterways, and as soon as reasonably possible after leaving the water.
Do not release bilge water until you are at home or at a commercial car wash.
If you live or have accommodation in the area, cleaning can be undertaken when you return home. If you are visiting an area just for the day, you should take your boat to a car wash or service station with wash down facilitity and clean it with soapy water there.
Clean all parts of your boat from bottom to top, including the canopy, motor and floor, with soapy freshwater.
Dry your boat completely before launching again.
Wetsuits and Dive Equipment
Cleaning dive equipment
- Clean wetsuits with a mild liquid soap inside and outside.
- Clean dive tanks, buoyancy vests and regulators, should be washed down with a mild soap and freshwater inside and outside.
- Clean all other equipment, such as catch bags, gloves, dive knives and measuring devices, should be soaked in soapy freshwater for 30 minutes and then rinsed.
- Dry all equipment before going in the water again.
People and clothing
- Divers should wash their hands with soapy water.
- Spray any waterproof clothing with soapy freshwater and rinse.
- On returning home, wash clothes with laundry detergent.
Disposal of abalone waste
Abalone shell, meat and gut must not be:
- shucked (removed from the shell) at sea,
- dumped into the sea,
- used as fishing bait.
Take your abalone catch home and dispose of the waste with your household rubbish.