With our head office Geelong Victoria, as well as regional offices in Torquay, Barwon Heads and Robe, South Australia, our Agribusiness Team are well poised to assist commercial fishing clients with all of their commercial fishing and business law ventures. Being a coastal based law firm, many of our lawyers are across the commercial fishing industry and the various legal challenges that commercial fishing enterprises often face. Some of the areas that our team can advise and assist commercial fishing clients with include:
The Fisheries Act 1995 (Vic) regulates the conduct of aquaculture activities by persons in Victoria.
Under the Act, a person is required to hold an aquaculture licence for certain commercial activities they wish to undertake.
Activities which may require a licence include the following:
The species for which a person requires an acquaculture licences include:
A person who holds a licence is required to comply with conditions prescribed by the legislation and regulations, as well as any specific conditions on the licence, which vary depending on the activity being conducted and the species being farmed.
An aquaculture licence may specify matters including the species, types of equipment which may be used, the area in which the activity is authorised, record and reporting requirements and biosecurity requirements.
If you are a person or business that catches seafood to land in Victoria for sale for human consumption, you will be required to apply for a wildcatch licence under the Seafood Safety Act 2003 (Vic).
Exemptions from the requirements to hold license for wildcatch include the following:
We can assist you understand your obligations in relation to aquaculture licencing to ensure that you are meeting your legislative requirements to obtain and maintain your licences.