The NSW Government will introduce legislation aimed at strengthening fisheries enforcement and disrupting the illegal trade in high-value seafood such as abalone, eastern rock lobster and mud crab.
The proposed Fisheries Management Amendment (Enforcement) Bill 2026 would expand the investigation and compliance powers available to NSW Fisheries Officers and introduce stronger penalties for offences involving aquaculture stock and infrastructure.
The reforms have been announced but are not yet law. The bill must be introduced, debated and passed by the NSW Parliament before the new powers can take effect.
Targeting buyers as well as illegal sellers
One of the proposed changes would allow enforcement action against people who knowingly purchase fish from illegal suppliers.
Existing enforcement activity has largely focused on people unlawfully catching, possessing, transporting or selling seafood.
The government argues that targeting knowing purchasers would reduce demand within black-market supply chains and make it more difficult for illegally obtained seafood to reach consumers, restaurants and other businesses.
Authorities say premium species such as abalone, mud crab and eastern rock lobster are particularly attractive to illegal operators because of their high market value and strong consumer demand.
The precise legal test for proving that a purchaser knew the seafood had been illegally sourced will not be clear until the bill and its explanatory material are published.
Boat owners could be identified and questioned
The proposed legislation would also strengthen Fisheries Officers’ ability to identify and question the owners of vessels suspected of involvement in illegal fishing.
This may apply where unlawful activity is detected through drones, surveillance equipment or other investigative methods but officers are unable to immediately intercept the people on board.
The government says the reform would make it more difficult for suspected offenders to avoid investigation by leaving a vessel or refusing to provide identifying information.
Detailed safeguards, evidentiary requirements and limits on the questioning power will need to be examined once the legislation is introduced.
Stronger identity requirements
Fisheries Officers would receive expanded authority to require suspected offenders to provide their identity.
The government says this is necessary because some people allegedly attempt to avoid enforcement by refusing to identify themselves or providing incomplete or misleading information.
Modern regulators in areas such as workplace safety, biosecurity and environmental protection commonly hold identity and information-gathering powers.
However, the final fisheries provisions will need to balance effective enforcement with appropriate procedural protections and review mechanisms.
Mobile seafood vendors face proactive checks
The proposed reforms would allow officers to proactively inspect seafood being transported or sold by mobile vendors and verify that it has been legally sourced.
Traceability is particularly important where seafood is sold away from fixed commercial premises or moved between harvest locations, wholesalers and customers.
Officers may examine relevant records, licences, catch documentation and other evidence demonstrating the origin of the product.
The government says stronger checks will protect legitimate commercial fishers and consumers while making it harder to introduce unlawfully harvested seafood into the legal market.
Illegal seafood may also create food-safety risks when it is caught, transported or stored outside regulated handling systems.
Penalties of up to $44,000 proposed
The bill would increase penalties for stealing aquaculture stock or damaging aquaculture infrastructure, with maximum fines of up to $44,000.
These offences may involve stealing farmed oysters, fish or other commercially cultivated species, or interfering with cages, leases and equipment used by aquaculture businesses.
The proposed amount is a maximum court-imposed penalty rather than an automatic fine applying to every incident.
The actual penalty imposed would depend on the offence, available evidence, the seriousness of the conduct and the decision of the court.
Review prompted by officer safety concerns
NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty commissioned a review of Part 9 of the Fisheries Management Act 1994, which contains investigation and enforcement provisions.
The review followed concerns raised by Fisheries Officers about whether their existing powers were sufficient to carry out inspections and investigations safely.
The government says the proposed amendments respond to recommendations from that independent review and represent a significant modernisation of the enforcement framework.
The review itself and the complete government response were not publicly available in the sources reviewed, so the full reasoning behind each proposed provision cannot yet be independently assessed.
Additional Fisheries Officers being recruited
Alongside the legislation, the NSW Government is expanding the fisheries compliance workforce.
Recruitment is underway for eight supervising and district officer positions and a new group of up to 11 first-year Fisheries Officers.
The government says the officers will be stationed across NSW and will support enforcement on waterways, beaches, roads, wharves and within seafood supply chains.
Recruitment does not mean all 19 positions have already been filled or deployed.
The eventual impact will depend on where the officers are placed, the training they receive and the level of operational funding available for inspections and investigations.
Commercial fishing licence test planned separately
The government also plans to introduce a “fit and proper person” test for commercial fishing licences through a separate regulatory change.
Applicants and existing licence holders could be required to undergo a National Police Check.
The proposed test may allow a licence to be refused, suspended or cancelled when a person has been convicted of specified serious offences, including:
- Assaulting or intimidating a public official
- Serious violence
- Fraud
- Criminal-group offences
- Serious fishing-related offences
This change is separate from the enforcement bill and will be introduced through regulation.
Its commencement date and detailed assessment criteria have not yet been announced.
A criminal conviction would not necessarily result in an automatic cancellation unless the final regulation requires that outcome. Decision-makers may need to consider the nature, seriousness and relevance of the conduct.
Protecting the aquaculture sector
The government says the reforms will also support the NSW aquaculture industry, which has an estimated farm-gate value of $107 million.
It attributes almost $250 million in wider economic activity and around 2,200 coastal jobs to the sector.
These figures are government estimates supplied in support of the reform package and should be attributed accordingly until the underlying economic assessment is published.
Aquaculture businesses may be particularly vulnerable to theft because valuable stock is often held in coastal leases or facilities that are difficult to continuously monitor.
Legislation still requires parliamentary approval
The reforms should not yet be described as powers currently available to Fisheries Officers.
Several steps remain before implementation:
- Formal introduction of the bill
- Publication of its full text and explanatory note
- Debate and passage through both houses of Parliament
- Assent
- Announcement of a commencement date
- Development of operational procedures and officer training
The separate fit-and-proper-person licensing regulation will also require its own legal process.
For now, the announcement establishes the government’s proposed enforcement direction but does not itself change the law.
The central question during parliamentary scrutiny will be whether the new powers are sufficiently clear and proportionate while giving officers practical tools to investigate organised illegal fishing and seafood trafficking.
Be the first to comment