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Anglers access information
Anglers Access in Tasmania - the current situation
Background
Tasmania’s fishery is essentially a ‘public’ fishery. That is to say that the fish are public property and are not the property of the landowner on which lake or river they live in exists. An angler only needs to comply with the requirements of the Tasmanian Inland Angling Code to take fish. The only exception is registered Private Fisheries where you may be charged a fee to fish but a licence is not required.
The land that surrounds public water, however, is subject to title and the rights of the landowner to control access to the river or lake is at their discretion. Anglers must ensure that they are on public land or that they have sought the permission of the landowner to access the river or lake they wish to fish.
Access to Lakes
In respect of the majority of lakes in Tasmania, they lie on Hydro or reserve land (Crown, National parks etc.) Generally speaking public access is permitted across Reserve or Hydro land to the lakes and around the lake shores. Hydro does control access to areas where they have infrastructure or there are safety issues with public access- these areas are generally signposted with appropriate warnings.
Access to Rivers
Rivers, however, generally traverse a number of different land tenures along their length, which may be a combination of reserves and private land. Land title generally extends to the edge of the river, and occasionally to the middle of the river. The only way to determine the land tenure is to search on the LIST Tasmanian Property Database (www.thelist.tas.gov.au). Another useful tool is the Tasmanian 1:25000 map series, available form Service Tasmania and outdoor shops, which show river reserves where they exist.
Where river reserves exist anglers are permitted to access these areas provided they do not have to cross private property to reach them.
The most important principle is ‘Access is a privilege not a right - when in doubt ask permission’
