Charter Boat Fishery

Charter fishing is a commercial activity undertaken for the purposes of trade or business and is licensed under the Fisheries Management Act 2007.

Recreational fishing charter boat operators must hold a charter boat fishery licence. To be eligible for a licence, applicants need to demonstrate that they were operating a charter boat fishery business on 28 November 2003 or they were in the process of establishing a charter boat fishing business at 28 November 2003.

Applicants need to complete the Eligibility for a Charter Boat Fishery Licence form and attach certified copies of the required supporting documentation.

Please note, no new licenses for charter boat fishing are currently being issued.

To register a boat for charter fishing or to register a person as the master of a boat to be used for charter fishing, the applicant must also hold a licence in respect of the particular fishery.

To vary the boat registration endorsement you will need to complete the Charter Boat Fishery Application to Vary a Boat Registration Endorsement form (PDF 34.5 KB).

To change the registered master you will need to complete the Charter Boat Fishery Application to Change Registration of a Master form (PDF 38.1 KB).

A licence can be transferred but an application to do so must be a joint application made by the holder of the charter boat fishing licence and the transferee. The application must be made on the Charter Boat Fishing Licence Transfer form (PDF 265.3 KB).

Management Plan

The Management Plan for the South Australian Charter Boat Fishery was approved in August 2011. This management plan is the first to be developed under the Fisheries Management Act 2007 and applies from 1 August 2011 for a period of 10 years.
View management plan (PDF 854.5 KB)

Size, bag and boat limits

Charter boat operators need to be aware of the size, bag and boat limits that apply to their operation. These might vary from the catch limits that apply to individual fishers. Details are listed in the Size, bag and boat limits for the South Australian Charter Boat Fishery (PDF 751.9 KB) brochure.

Statistics

For detailed data on the South Australian Charter Boat fishery the 2011 Data Summary of the South Australian Charter Boat Fishery (PDF 802.7 KB) is available.

Previous report:
2010 Data Summary of the South Australian Recreational Charter Boat Fishery (PDF 53.0 KB)