New South Wales Consolidated Acts

FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ACT 1994 - SECT 18

18 Bag limits-possession of fish

(1) The regulations may specify the maximum quantity of fish of a specified species, or of a specified class, that a person may have in possession in any specified circumstances (the "possession limit").

(2) A person who has in the person’s possession more than the possession limit of those fish is guilty of an offence. This subsection applies irrespective of the period over which the fish were taken.

Maximum penalty:

(a) in the case of an individual:

(i) 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months (or both) for a first offence, or

(ii) 400 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months (or both) for a second or subsequent offence, or

(b) in the case of a corporation:

(i) 1,000 penalty units for a first offence, or

(ii) 2,000 penalty units for a second or subsequent offence.

(2A) A person who has in the person’s possession, in circumstances of aggravation, more than the possession limit of any fish is guilty of an offence. This subsection applies irrespective of the period over which the fish were taken.

Maximum penalty:

(a) in the case of an individual:

(i) 400 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months (or both) for a first offence, or

(ii) 800 penalty units or imprisonment for 18 months (or both) for a second or subsequent offence, or

(b) in the case of a corporation:

(i) 2,000 penalty units for a first offence, or

(ii) 4,000 penalty units for a second or subsequent offence.

(2B) For the purposes of subsection (2A), a person has possession of fish in "circumstances of aggravation" if:

(a) the fish in the person’s possession are a priority species of fish, and

(b) the quantity of fish in the person’s possession is a commercial quantity of that species of fish.

(3) The regulations may specify different possession limits for commercial fishers or other classes of fishers or in any other circumstances specified in the regulations. The regulations may also include restrictions as to size or otherwise in respect of any possession limit of fish.

(3A) The regulations may specify a possession limit of zero for fish of a specified species or of a specified class. In that case, a reference in this section to being in possession of more than the possession limit of those fish is to be read as a reference to being in possession of any of those fish.

(4) The possession limit of any fish need not be the same as the daily limit of those fish.

(5) This section does not authorise the possession of fish in contravention of any other provision of or made under this Act.