Reef fishing management

Most coastal reef fish species in the Greater Darwin region are at risk of overfishing.

This is due to:

slow growth, late maturity and a preference for aggregating (shelter, feeding or spawning)
population growth increasing fishing rates over time
advances in fishing technology (fish finding, positioning and gear improvements) increasing effectiveness of fishing
low post-release survival because of barotrauma and capture stress response
shark depredation of hooked and released fish.

Watch the video below to learn ways to help with the pressures of overfishing.

Management measures

The following measures have been in place since 2015:

possession limits
vessel limits
limits on new fishing tour operator licences that target reef fish
quotas for coastal line fishery licences
introduction of reef protection areas to aid recovery.

Get the reef fishing best practice fact sheet PDF (646.0 KB).

Read about recreational fishing for other rules and best practice behaviours.

Coastal line fishery harvest strategy

The coastal line fishery (CLF) is a multi-sector fishery that spans the entire NT coastline:

from the high water mark to 15 nautical miles from the low water mark
where fishing for coastal reef fish is primarily done using hook and line methods.

To help manage overfishing concerns in this fishery, the CLF harvest strategy has been in place since 1 July 2023.

This strategy blends ecological, social, and economic factors into a single framework.

Get the CLF harvest strategy PDF (2.6 MB).

Key objectives

The strategy aims to:

ensure stakeholders have a mutual understanding of reef fish resources
monitor the performance of black jewfish, golden snapper, grass emperor and stripey snapper in the Greater Darwin region, read more about these fish species
specify the pre-determined management actions that will be applied to various fishery conditions.

Golden snapper stock assessment

Golden snapper stocks are critically low and NT Fisheries is developing a recovery plan to protect this fish for future generations.

Read more about golden snapper recovery.

Black jewfish stock assessment

Black Jewfish stocks in the Greater Darwin region are at 41% of original levels. This is below the level that is needed in the region to provide the good quality fishing expected by the community.