Minimum commercial size limits and Total Allowable Catch (TAC) apply to native periwinkles and short-spined sea urchin. When the TAC for a species/zone is reached, or a within-zone catch-capped area, it is seasonally closed for the remainder of the licensing year (1 Sep to 31 Aug).
Current closures and limits are displayed below, together with catch updates. Within-season catch data cannot be disclosed (ND) until that area has been fished by five or more divers. Only data entered in the NRE Tas Fisheries FILMS database is included.
The data below was last updated on: 13 January 2023
Periwinkles (Lunella undulata) - 45mm minimum size
TACs - 55.8 tonnes
| Zone | TAC tonnes
2022-2023
| Caught | Catch remaining
(tonnes)
| Status |
| Northern | 16.2 | ND | ND
| Open |
| North-Eastern | 12.8 | ND | ND
| Open |
| Central-Eastern | 7.2
| 3.5
| 3.7
| Open |
| South-Eastern | 6 | 5.2
| 0.8
| CLOSED (from 12:01am, 16 Jan 2023) |
| Western | 13.6 | ND | ND | Open |
Catch Cap Areas
Zone
|
Sub-blocks |
Area Name |
Cap (t) |
Caught (t) |
Status |
NE
| 31A
| Eddystone
| 5
| ND | Open
|
W
|
12C, 12D, 13A & 13B
|
Southwest
|
5
| 0
|
Open
|
Short-spined sea urchin (Heliocidaris erythrogramma) - 75mm minimum size
TACs - 175 tonnes
| Zone | TAC tonnes
2022-23
| Caught
(tonnes)
| Catch remaining
(tonnes)
| Status |
| Northern | 39 | 0 | 39 | Open |
| North-Eastern | 37 | 31.3
| 5.7
| Open |
| Central-Eastern | 45 | 45.1
| 0
| CLOSED (from 12:01am, 14 Nov 2022)
|
| South-Eastern | 44 | 49.5
| 0
| CLOSED (from 12:01am, 25 Nov 2022) |
| Western | 10 | 0 | 10 | Open
|
Catch Cap Areas
|
Zone |
Sub-blocks |
Area Name |
Cap (t) |
Caught (t) |
Status |
NE
| 30D | Georges Bay | 7
|
7.4
|
CLOSED (from 12:01am, 6 Oct 2022)
|
| NE | 29D, 30A & 30B | St Helens | 13 | 12
|
CLOSED (from 12:01am, 26 Sep 2022)
|
| CE | 24A, 24B & 24C | Mercury Passage | 15
| 16.5
| CLOSED (from 12:01am, 6 Nov 2022) |
| CE | 26B, 26C & 26D | Coles Bay | 15 | 19.5
| CLOSED (from 12:01am, 13 Oct 2022) |
| SE | 23B | Dunalley | 10 | 6.2
| CLOSED (SE zone from 12:01am, 25 Nov 2022)
|
| SE | 18 | Derwent River | 6 | 7.5
| CLOSED (from 12:01am, 15 Oct 2022) |
| SE | 19B | Dodges, Sloping Island | 15 | 15.6
| CLOSED (from 12:01am, 15 Nov 2022)
|
Long-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) - no size limit
Catch tally and annual comparisons (No TAC) (tonnes)
|
22/23 Current Catch (t) |
21/22 |
20/21 |
19/20 |
18/19 |
17/18 |
16/17 |
15/16 |
47.6
| 494
| 497 | 360.5 | 559.7 | 188.5 | 41.5 | 40.5
|
Biosecurity closures and recommended no take areas
Biosecurity closures and recommended no take areas
The Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment (DAWE), with Biosecurity Tasmania (BT), have advised that commercial dive species should be monitored in line with the abalone biotoxin management regime. NRE Tas is supporting IMAS projects to assess whether urchins and periwinkles can be managed in their own right.
In the interim, it is strongly recommended that commercial dive species are not taken from abalone blocks that are closed to the take of abalone by DAWE or BT due to biotoxins. The abalone block map can be found on the
Abalone Fishery webpage.
DAWE's recommended no take abalone blocks:
Block 24 A, Block 24 B and Block 24 C;Block 25;Block 26A, 26B and 26C; and
Block 30A