Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

TORRES STRAIT FISHERIES ACT 1984 - SECT 46A

             (1)  A person commits an offence if:

                     (a)  the person engages in taking fish on a boat; and

                     (b)  the boat is a foreign boat; and

                     (c)  the fish are taken in the course of commercial fishing; and

                     (d)  the boat is at a place that is, at the time the person engages in taking the fish, in a part of the territorial sea of Australia that is in an area of Australian jurisdiction.

Penalty:

                     (a)  if the offender was the master of the boat at the time the offence was committed--2,500 penalty units or 3 years imprisonment, or both; or

                     (b)  in any other case--500 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment, or both.

          (1A)  Strict liability applies to paragraph (1)(d).

Note:          For strict liability , see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code .

             (2)  The reference to an area of Australian jurisdiction in paragraph (1)(d) does not include a reference to Protected Zone coastal waters of Queensland.

Note:          For what are Protected Zone coastal waters of Queensland, see
section 4.

             (3)  Subsection (1) does not apply if:

                     (a)  the fishing is community fishing; or

                     (b)  a licence under subsection 19(2) is in force authorising the use of the boat; or

                     (c)  a Treaty endorsement is in force authorising the use of the boat for taking fish.

Note:          The defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (3). See subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .