{"id":"F2025L01635","name":"Torres Strait Fisheries (Crab) Management Instrument 2025","slug":"torres-strait-fisheries-crab-management-instrument-2025","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":443112,"registerId":"F2025L01635-fast-fetch-1775958030162","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Torres Strait Fisheries (Crab) Management Instrument 2025","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nTorres Strait Fisheries (Crab) Management Instrument 2025\n\nThe Protected Zone Joint Authority make the following instrument.\n\nDated 19 December 2025  \n\n \n\nThe Hon Julie Collins MP, Commonwealth Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry\n\n\nThe Hon Anthony (Tony) Perrett MP, Queensland Minister for Primary Industries\n\n\nMr George Nona, Chairperson, Torres Strait Regional Authority\n\n\n\nFor and on behalf of the Protected Zone Joint Authority\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1  Name\n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Definitions\n\n5  Schedules\n\n6  Prohibition on taking, processing or carrying crab\n\n7  Prohibition on the use of certain equipment\n\n8  Prohibition on taking, processing or carrying of crab of a certain size\n\n9  Prohibition on the use of a boat of a certain size\n\n10  Prohibition on the use, possession or control of crab apparatus\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nTorres Strait Fisheries Management Notice No. 50\n\n \n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Torres Strait Fisheries (Crab) Management Instrument 2025.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under section 16(1) and section 35(1)(a) of the Act.\n\n4  Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in section 3 of the Act, including the following:\n\n(a) community fishing\n\n(b) fish\n\n(c) traditional inhabitant\n\n(d) traditional fishing.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984.\n\nCrab means fish of the infraorders Anomura and Brachyura other than spanner crabs (Ranina ranina).\n\nCrab apparatus means a crab pot or a dilly.\n\nCrab fishery means the area of the crab fishery prescribed in item 2 of Schedule 2 to the Torres Strait Fisheries Regulations 1985.\n\nCrab licenced person means a person who has been granted a licence under subsection 19(2), 19(3) or 19(4A) of the Act that authorises the taking, processing or carrying of crab in the crab fishery.\n\nCrab pot means crab apparatus comprising a cage with a round opening in the top, or an elongated opening (parallel to the base) in the side, for trapping crabs.\n\nDilly means fishing apparatus comprising a frame and a net that hangs below the frames horizontal plane when the apparatus is in use.\n\nPZJA Arrangement means the document titled “Arrangement between the Commonwealth and the State of Queensland under section 31 of the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984” dated 17 March 1999 and published on the Federal Register of Legislation, as that document exists at the commencement of this instrument.\n\nNote: The PZJA Arrangement could be viewed on the website of the Federal Register of Legislation  at:https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2008B00750.\n\nRegulations means the Torres Strait Fisheries Regulations 1985.\n\n5  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n6  Prohibition on taking, processing or carrying crab\n\n1.  The taking, processing or carrying of crab in the area of the crab fishery is prohibited.\n\n\nNote:  This prohibition does not apply to traditional fishing because traditional fishing is excluded from the definition of commercial fishing and as such, cannot be a Protected Zone Joint Authority fishery under the PZJA Arrangement.\n\n1.  Except in relation to the taking or carrying of female crabs, a person is exempt from the prohibition in subsection (1) when:\n  1.     The person is a crab licensed person.\n\n\n7  Prohibition on the use of certain equipment\n\n1.  A crab licensed person is prohibited from using or having in his or her possession or under his or her control in the course of commercial fishing more than 50 crab apparatus.\n\n\nNote:  This prohibition applies on a boat, and without the use of a boat.  This prohibition does not apply to traditional fishing because traditional fishing is excluded from the definition of commercial fishing and as such, cannot be a Protected Zone Joint Authority fishery under the PZJA Arrangement.\n\n8  Prohibition on taking, processing or carrying of crab of a certain size\n\n1.  The taking, processing or carrying of crab by a crab licenced person is prohibited except where:\n  1.     When measured across the widest part of the carapace they are not less than 150 millimetres in length; or\n  2.     If the carapace is missing, when measured across the underside of the body on one side, from the notch at the junction of the claw with the body to the notch at the junction of the last leg with the body they are not less than:\n    1.       In the case of blue swimmer crabs. 37 millimetres in length; and\n    2.       In the case of mud crabs, 46 millimetres in length.\n\n\n  Note:  This prohibition does not apply to traditional fishing because traditional fishing is excluded from the definition of commercial fishing and as such, cannot be a Protected Zone Joint Authority fishery under the PZJA Arrangement.\n\n9  Prohibition on the use of a boat of a certain size\n\n1.  The taking, processing or carrying of crab by a crab licensed person is prohibited with the use of a boat of a kind that is longer than 14 metres.\n\n\nNote:  This prohibition does not apply to traditional fishing because traditional fishing is excluded from the definition of commercial fishing and as such, cannot be a Protected Zone Joint Authority fishery under the PZJA Arrangement.\n\n10  Prohibition on the use, possession or control of crab apparatus\n\n1.  A crab licenced person is prohibited from using, from having in his or her possession, or from having under his or her control, on a boat in the area of the crab fishery, crab apparatus unless:\n  1.     It has a tag affixed with the owner’s name appearing on it; and\n  2.     It has a light-coloured float of at least 150 millimetres in any dimension attached on which is recorded the distinguishing numbers of the licenced person’s boat.\n\n\n \n\n \n\n\n\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nTorres Strait Fisheries Management Notice No. 50\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument maintains the established scope of crab fishery management in the Torres Strait. It replaces Torres Strait Fisheries Management Notice No. 50 with substantively similar restrictions (size limits, equipment limits, boat restrictions, and tagging requirements) without expanding into new regulatory areas or adding significant new compliance burdens beyond the previous regime."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument with only 10 operative sections plus a repeal schedule","Minimal cross-referencing—primarily references the parent Act (Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984) and Regulations for definitions","7 defined terms in section 4, with additional terms defined by reference to the parent Act","Simple conditional structure: general prohibition followed by specific exemptions in subsections","No nested exceptions or complex logical operators—exemptions are clearly delineated","Straightforward measurement requirements (millimetre specifications) without calculation formulas","Single repeal item in Schedule 1"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument replaces prior crab-fishing rules in the Torres Strait, allowing only licensed commercial fishers (and exempt traditional fishers) to take crabs. It limits fishing effort—max 50 pots/dillies per licence, boats no longer than 14 m—and imposes minimum size limits for kept crabs and mandatory tagging and light-coloured floats showing licence details. The measures aim to curb overfishing, make gear identifiable, and protect customary fishing rights."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument repeals Torres Strait Fisheries Management Notice No. 50 (Schedule 1) and replaces it with a set of specific prohibitions and conditions: a general prohibition on taking/processing/carrying crab except for crab licenced persons (s.6), gear limit of 50 crab apparatus (s.7), minimum size rules including alternate measurements if carapace missing (s.8), vessel-length cap of 14 m (s.9), and gear‑tagging/float marking requirements (s.10). Traditional fishing is explicitly excluded throughout."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑references to primary legislation and instruments (Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984: made under s.16(1) and s.35(1)(a); PZJA Arrangement reference) increase legal dependency (see ss 3 and 4).","Multiple operational prohibitions with conditional exemptions (general ban but exemption for crab licenced persons; repeated note excluding traditional fishing) require interpreting interaction between definitions and exemptions (see s.6 and repeated notes).","Technical measurement rules for minimum sizes, including an alternative measurement where the carapace is missing (complexity in s.8).","Operational limits: numeric caps (≤50 crab apparatus, s.7) and boat length limit (>14 m prohibited, s.9) impose concrete compliance actions and monitoring needs.","Marking and identification requirements for gear (owner name tag and float with boat numbers; s.10) create recordkeeping and gear‑marking obligations.","Repeal of an earlier instrument (Schedule 1) means stakeholders must map new requirements against prior entitlements and practice.","Commencement ties to registration timing (s.2) and enforcement relies on administrative discretion under the Act, which can create implementation variability."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument makes commercial crab fishing in the Torres Strait lawful only under a licence and then subject to specific prohibitions and conditions. It generally bans taking, processing or carrying crab in the crab fishery while exempting traditional fishing, and permits licensed commercial fishers to operate only within gear, vessel‑size, minimum‑size and marking requirements.\n\nWho pays and decides: licensed fishers bear compliance costs (gear limits, tag/float marking, size rules) and the Protected Zone Joint Authority (under the Torres Strait Fisheries Act) enforces the rules."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/torres-strait-fisheries-crab-management-instrument-2025","history":"/api/acts/torres-strait-fisheries-crab-management-instrument-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/torres-strait-fisheries-crab-management-instrument-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/torres-strait-fisheries-crab-management-instrument-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/torres-strait-fisheries-crab-management-instrument-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/torres-strait-fisheries-crab-management-instrument-2025/documents"}}