Whitebait Fishing

A limited licensed recreational fishery for whitebait has operated in Tasmania since 1990. In 2006, a 5 year whitebait fishery management plan was released and a minor subsequent amendment was made to the open/closed waters schedule thereafter. This plan has now expired.

A new management plan has been developed for the whitebait fishery for 2011-15. The new plan is focussed on regulatory aspects of the fishery. It continues fishery’s management principles established in the previous plan because much of this information and the over-arching principles remain relevant and unchanged.

Important information about the fishery is provided below. If you are going whitebait fishing will you need to be aware of the regulations and your obligations.

Licences

A person wishing to take and/or possess whitebait must hold a whitebait licence. The fee in 2011 is $28.00 with no concessions available. The whitebait licence does not permit the sale of whitebait.

Licences are available from all Service Tasmania shops and the agents listed below.

(Whitebait licences are not available online via the IFS website.)

 Season and Fishing Times

The season will open for six weeks from Saturday October 1 to Friday 11 November. Whitebait can only be taken between the hours from sunrise to sunset.

Waters Open to Whitebait Fishing

The rivers open for whitebait fishing are subject to a schedule of annual rotations of open and closed waters. Whitebait fishers will need to ensure that the river they are proposing to fish is open for that season.

The rivers open for fishing the 2011 season are the Little Forester River, Brid River, Tamar River, Derwent River, Huon River, Rubicon River, Don River, Forth River, Leven River, Black River, Duck River, Pieman River and Henty River.

Fishing is prohibited 50 m below and 50 m above water gauging weirs on the Rubicon and Duck rivers.  Fishing in the vicinity of the Forth River Weir is now permitted following modifications to the weir which has facilitated the passage of whitebait.

Method of Fishing

The whitebait net must carry a tag showing the number of the licence held by the user.

The licensee must be within 8 m of their net when fishing. The net can be held by hand or tied off to suitable vegetation or staked using a metal or plastic peg only. Natural vegetation can not be used as a stake.

A licence authorises the licence holder to use one ‘whitebait net. The net must carry a tag showing the licence number.

A ‘whitebait net’ must not:

• have any part (including the opening) exceeding 120 centimetres in circumference;
• be fitted with wings, leaders, screens or structures of any kind capable of diverting fish into the net, nor be constructed in such a way as to act in this manner; and
• be fitted with a funnel, screen, valve, or any other device so as to impede fish escaping from the net.

Such a net may not be used from a boat except in the Pieman, Derwent, Henty and Huon rivers.

Licence

A whitebait licence is required to take whitebait. An angling licence does not entitle anyone to take whitebait. A whitebait licence does not give the right to take or retain any other fish. A person may not hold more than one licence at a time and a licence can not be transferred. A whitebait licence does not permit the sale of whitebait.

It is an offence for a person to have a whitebait net at or near an inland water, unless the person has a whitebait license and the particular water is open to whitebait fishing at the time.

Catch and Possession Limits

A maximum daily catch by a licensee is 2 kg. Maximum catch per licence for the season is 10 kg. Maximum quantity that can be held by a licensee at any one time is 10 kg.

Caution

A whitebait licence does not give the licence holder the right to take or retain any other fish species. It is an offence for a person to have a whitebait net at or on an inland water, unless the person has a licence to take whitebait and the particular water is open to whitebait fishing at the time. A whitebait licence does not infer the right to enter private property without permission of the landowner.