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Government of Western Australia - Department of Fisheries

Western Australian Fisheries legislation

Acts

The Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (FRMA) and the Pearling Act 1990 (Pearling Act) currently regulate fishing, aquaculture, pearling, and other aquatic resources in Western Australia.

The Aquatic Resources Management Act 2016 (ARMA) will replace the FRMA and the Pearling Act to become the primary legislation for managing fishing, aquaculture, pearling, and aquatic resources.  Amendments to ARMA, passed on 19 August 2021, open the pathway to implementation.  ARMA provides a modern, flexible, innovative framework that will provide a sound basis for effective, efficient, and integrated fisheries and aquatic resource management in Western Australia for decades to come.

Other Acts relating to the management of fishing in Western Australia include the Fisheries Adjustment Schemes Act 1987 (FASA), the Fishing Industry Promotion Training and Management Levy Act 1994 (FIPTMLA) and the Fishing and Related Industries Compensation (Marine Reserves) Act 1997 (FRICMRA). 

Subsidiary legislation 

Various subsidiary legislation has been made under the FRMA, the Pearling Act, the FASA, the FIPTMLA and the FRICMRA.  Subsidiary legislation made under the FRMA includes the Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995, Management Plans, Notices and Orders and CEO Notices and Determinations. 

To understand all ‘rules’, it is important to consider all types of subsidiary legislation that may apply as well as all relevant Acts.

Western Australian Fisheries legislation online

Principal and Subsidiary WA Fisheries legislation includes:

Online subsidiary legislation and amendments are usually added on the date of publication in the WA Government Gazette.

When searching for information relating to a specific type of fish, fishery, area and/or activity, it is important to refer to all the categories above, since a single category may not contain all of the rules relevant to your search.

Management Plans and CEO Notices and Determinations are arranged alphabetically by ‘Title’ by their common name, not citation.

Notices and Orders are separated by order type - Section 115 Fish Habitat Protection Orders and Section 43 Prohibition Orders.

Section 43 Prohibition Orders are further arranged by 1) Closed Waters / Marine Reserves; 2) Gear restrictions; 3) Species restrictions; 4) Rock Lobster; 5) Designated Fishing Zones in alphabetical order.

Disclaimer 

It is important to note that the subsidiary legislation provided are not the official versions and although they are carefully collated and amended, their accuracy cannot be guaranteed.  Please refer to the WA Government Gazette for the original subsidiary legislation and any amendments.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither the Minister for Fisheries ("Minister"), nor the State of Western Australia ("State"), nor any agency or instrumentality of the State, nor any employee or agent of the Minister, the Department, the State or any agency or instrumentality of the State shall be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or injury (including death) howsoever caused (whether caused by any negligent or other unlawful act or omission of, by or on the part of the Minister, the State, any agency or instrumentality of the State, or any agent or employee of the Minister, the Department, the State or any agency or instrumentality of the State, other otherwise) arising from the use of or reliance on any information, data or advice (including incomplete, out-of-date, wrong, inaccurate or misleading information, data or advice):

(a) expressed or implied in the Western Australian Fisheries Legislation page or its subdirectories; and

(b) expressed or implied in, or coming from, the Department's website by any person whosoever.

Copyright 

Copyright in the material presented on this website is owned by the State of Western Australia. A user may download, store in cache, display, print and copy the material in unaltered form only for the user's personal, non-commercial use or non-commercial use within the user’s organisation. A user may not transmit, distribute, or commercialise the material without the express written permission of the State of Western Australia. All other rights reserved.

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Last modified: 9/09/2021 2:44 PM

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Copyright

© This work is copyright. You may display, print or reproduce this material only in an unaltered format for your personal or non-commercial use, or for use within your organisation. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved.

Disclaimer

The information and advice provided by the Department of Fisheries website is made in good faith and is from sources believed to be reliable and accurate at the time of release onto the website. Changes in circumstances after a document is placed on the website may affect the accuracy of the information. Full disclaimer details are available at www.fish.wa.gov.au.