Equipment requirements for small fishing vessel operations have been simplified.
With your help we have created two new equipment lists for non-survey vessels that are less than 12 metres long, work close to land and operate either under Exemption 2 (certificates of survey) or Exemption 40 (class C restricted operations).
The equipment you now need to carry depends on where and how far from land you operate:
- Non-survey fishing vessels operating in warm waters and within 2 nautical miles of land.
- Non-survey beach fishery vessels operating anywhere in Australia.
If you operate under these conditions you don’t need to apply to use the equipment lists. Simply make sure you carry all the equipment now required.
Waters north of Coral Bay in Western Australia, all coastal waters in the Northern Territory and Queensland, and waters north of Ballina in NSW (waters north of latitude 23.5° south on the west coast and latitude 29° south on the east coast).
The new safety equipment lists do not apply to:
- vessels in survey
- vessels longer than 12 metres
- vessels operating in waters or places other than what we have described above.
However, you can apply to AMSA for a specific exemption and give us feedback about why the standards aren’t working for you and your operation.
