On July 1, Fisheries Queensland cut the amount of Spanish Mackerel allowed to be caught.
For professional anglers, the amount dipped by approximately two-thirds from 578 tonnes to 165 tonnes.
Recreational fishers’ possession limits have also changed from three to one fish per person or from six to two fish per boat with two or more recreational fishers on board. Further, the extended charter limit has been removed, stopping recreational fishers from taking twice the in-possession limit for trips over 48 hours.
These changes were made based on fish stock modelling. The government’s stock assessment estimated that Spanish Mackerel could be down to 17 percent of its unfished biomass which has an accepted sustainable level of 60 percent or more….