The inshore finfish fishery is an historic coastal fishery, making an important economic and employment contribution to the State’s economy as well as supplying the fresh, local fish needs of Queensland’s east coast communities.

Species such as mullet and tailor have been found by CSIRO to be high in the so-called “good oils” ­ such as Omega-3 ­ and offer an economical alternative for the budget and health conscious consumer.

Species such as barramundi are highly prized for the restaurant trade, and are an important attraction bringing tourists to Queensland coastal communities.
The East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery is primarily a net fishery. Commercial net fishers work with fisheries scientists to ensure their catches and their fishing operations are sustainable.

The Queensland Department of Primary Industries and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Halliday et al, 2001) have recently finished a comprehensive three year study of the environmental effect of net fishing with the help of net fishers throughout the State.
The study found that 6 of the 7 Queesland net fisheries studied rank in the top 10 cleaniest fisheries in the world in terms of by-catch according to UN data.
Key findings of the study include:

• “gill nets are highly selective in their ability to capture targeted species…”
• “damage to physical environments is minimal…”
• “these highly selective fisheries were not found to be affecting fish species that were not within the catching range of the nets allowed.”
• “multivariate analysis showed no detectable differences between rivers open and closed to commercial fishing in the overall community structure.”
• “fishery-independent sampling of rivers open and closed to net fishing was unable to detect any changes in fish biodiversity between open and closed rivers.”
• “the low rates of bycatch that were established for each of the Queensland net fisheries indicates that levels of bycatch and its composition should not be an issue in relation to ecological impacts of the fisheries concerned.”

The inshore fin fish fishery is currently regulated under the Fisheries Regulations 1995. The fishery is subject to a wide array of limits governing the types of apparatus that can used, the areas that can be fished, the seasons that can be fished, the numbers and types of vessels that can be used, as well as minimum and maximum size limits for most species.

Many fishers operating in the East Coast inshore fin fish fishery also operate in other fisheries such as the crab and line fisheries. In this way, fishers ensure that fishing effort is spread over a number of stocks and not concentrated on any individual species.