Overview
The Danish seine fishery is a small component of the Tasmanian Scalesfish Fishery. Once managed under the umbrella of the Tasmanian Inshore Trawl Fishery along with demersal trawling, now only Danish seines are permitted to be used following the prohibition on demersal trawling in State waters in 2001.
Danish seine
Danish seine vessels have been operating in Tasmania since the mid 1930s and the method used today is largely unchanged from the original. Two species of fish are targeted,
tiger flathead (
Neoplatycephalus richardsoni) and
southern school whiting (
Sillago flindersi).
The majority of fishing effort is concentreated in the south and south-east regions of the State, with small amounts of activity in the north-east and north-west.
Managing the fishery
The Tasmania Danish seine fishery is managed under the provisions of the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 and the Fisheries (Scalefish) Rules 2015.
The fishery consists of eight licences, two limited Danish seine and six Danish seine, with only two of these operating in the last five years. All licences are currently non-transferable, so cannot be sold or handed down to family members. In addition, a licence can only be operated by individuals that were historically nominated on the licence. Please note that trawling does still occur in Commonwealth waters, which are managed by AFMA.
There are also significant area restrictions in place for the fishery. Details about the operation areas can be found on the Areas of the Danish Seine Fishery page.
Information relating to the Danish seine Fishery can be found in the scalefish operational guide.
2022 Operational guide for the commercial Scalefish Fishery (PDF 7Mb)
How Danish seine works
Danish seine vessels in Tasmania typically operate close shore (although outside of the one nautical mile limit) on flat sandy bottom. Water depths fished are approximately between 10 to 90 metres.