General News
24 March, 2026
Chance to have a say
COMMERCIAL and recreational fishers, charter operators, seafood marketers and processors, conservation representatives and First Nations peoples are among the fishing community being asked to nominate for the state government’s fishery working groups.
Nominations are now open for expressions of interest from stakeholders, with applications due by 31 March.
The groups provide operational advice on the management of Queensland’s fisheries and play an important role in engaging with a broad range of stakeholders.
Department of Primary Industries (DPI) fisheries and forestry deputy director-general Pauline Jacob said the department was looking for a balance of representatives, covering geographic distribution, different stakeholder interests and gender, and knowledge across a range of species, fishing methods and fishery risks.
“This is a real opportunity for Queenslanders to play a vital role in the sustainable management of our fisheries, so they continue to grow and thrive,” Ms Jacob said.
“While these working groups are not decision-making bodies, we rely on the advice of these groups to improve community engagement, prioritisation and our own decision-making,” she said.
The members would provide advice on operational advice to Fisheries Queensland on fisheries management, emerging issues (e.g. compliance, data, legislation, research) and share factual information with a broad range of stakeholders and bring stakeholder feedback to the working group for discussion.
Nominations are open for the following 10 working groups:
Crab fishery
East coast inshore fishery
Freshwater fisheries
Gulf of Carpentaria inshore fishery
Marine aquarium fish and coral fishery
Reef line fishery
Sea cucumber fishery
Spanish mackerel fishery
Spanner crab fishery
Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme advisory committee
Trawl fishery
The government application advises that nominees should have experience in working across digital technologies (such as video conferencing, emails and receiving digital agenda papers for pre-meeting review), experience in other fishery meetings, working groups or similar forums, a good understanding of current Queensland fisheries management rules and issues, credibility or standing within the sector being represented and compliance with fisheries legislation.
The guidelines, terms of reference and nomination form are available at www.bit.ly/40vNgWF
Applications close 5 pm on Tuesday 31 March.
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