Commonwealth Numbered Acts

TORRES STRAIT FISHERIES ACT 1984 NO. 23 OF 1984 - SECT. 3.

3. (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears-

''area of Australian jurisdiction'' means-

     (a)   any area of waters in the Protected Zone (other than an area within
the Protected Zone coastal waters of Queensland) to the south of the line
described in Annex 8 to the Torres Strait Treaty;

   (b)  if there is in force a Proclamation under sub-section 15 (1) or (2) in
        relation to an area of waters-so much of that area of waters as is not
        within the Protected Zone coastal waters of Queensland; and

   (c)  if there is in force an arrangement under Part V that provides that a
        particular fishery, being a fishery that is so defined that it is or
        may be carried on wholly or partly within the Protected Zone
        coastal waters of Queensland, is to be managed in accordance with the
        law of the Commonwealth-that part of the Protected Zone
        coastal waters of Queensland to which the arrangement relates,

but does not, except to the extent necessary for the purposes of giving effect
to an arrangement of the kind referred to in paragraph (c), include, in
relation to any act or thing done for the purposes of fishing for sedentary
organisms, any part of the Protected Zone to the north of the line described
in Annex 5 to the Torres Strait Treaty;

''area of Papua New Guinea jurisdiction'' means any area of waters in the
Protected Zone (other than an area within the Protected Zone coastal waters of
Queensland) to the north of the line described in Annex 5 to the Torres Strait
Treaty, but does not include, in relation to any act or thing done for the
purpose of fishing for fish other than sedentary organisms, any area to the
south of the line described in Annex 8 to the Torres Strait Treaty;

''Australian boat'' means a boat the operations of which are based on a place
in Australia and which is wholly owned by a natural person who is a resident
of, or by a company incorporated in, Australia, being a boat that-

   (a)  was built in Australia;

   (b)  has been lawfully imported into Australia, otherwise than for a
        limited period; or

   (c)  has been sold, or otherwise disposed of, in Australia after having
        been forfeited or distrained under a law of the Commonwealth or of a
        State or Territory;

''boat'' means any kind of vessel used in navigation by water, however
propelled or moved, and includes-

   (a)  a barge, lighter or other floating vessel; and

   (b)  an air-cushion vehicle, or other similar craft, used wholly or
        primarily in navigation by water;

''carrying'', in relation to fish, includes preserving for the purpose of
carriage or storing for that purpose;

''commercial fishing'' means fishing for commercial purposes, but does not
include traditional fishing;

''community fishing'' means commercial fishing carried on by-

   (a)  a person who is, or 2 or more persons each of whom is, both a
        traditional inhabitant and an Australian citizen (not being a person
        who is, in the course of that fishing, under an obligation, whether
        formal or informal, to act in accordance with the directions,
        instructions or wishes of another person who is not both an Australian
        citizen and a traditional inhabitant); or

   (b)  a person or persons of the kind referred to in paragraph (a) and
        another person or other persons employed by-

        (i)    the first-mentioned person or persons; or

        (ii)   the Commonwealth, Queensland, an authority of the Commonwealth
               or an authority of Queensland,

to provide the first-mentioned person or persons with training or advice in
relation to fishing techniques;

''fish'' means all the natural resources of the sea and seabed, including all
swimming species and all sedentary organisms, but does not include cetaceans
or minerals;

''fishing'' means the taking of fish, and includes the processing of fish that
have been taken or the carrying of fish that have been taken;

''foreign boat'' means a boat other than an Australian boat or a Papua New
Guinea boat;

''master'', in relation to a boat, means the person in charge or command of
the boat;

''master fisherman's licence'' means a licence granted under sub-section 19
(1);

''officer'' means-

   (a)  a person, or a person included in a class of persons, authorized under
        sub-section (4) to perform duties under this Act;

   (b)  a member of the Defence Force; or

   (c)  a member or special member of the Australian Federal Police or a
        member of the Police Force of Queensland;

''Papua New Guinea boat'' means-

   (a)  a boat in respect of which a Papua New Guinea licence is in force; or

   (b)  a boat that is being used by a traditional inhabitant who is a citizen
        of Papua New Guinea in the course of traditional fishing;

''Papua New Guinea licence'' means a licence in force under the laws of Papua
New Guinea in respect of a boat, being a licence granted pursuant to the
Torres Strait Treaty that authorizes the use of the boat for commercial
fishing in an area of Papua New Guinea jurisdiction (whether or not the
licence also authorizes the use of the boat for fishing in any other area);

''Papua New Guinea Minister'' means the Minister of the Government of Papua
New Guinea for the time being administering the laws of Papua New Guinea
relating to fishing in and in the vicinity of the Protected Zone, and includes
a delegate of that Minister;

''private purposes'' means purposes other than commercial purposes or
scientific purposes;

''processing'', in relation to fish, includes the cutting up, dismembering,
cleaning, sorting or packing of the fish;

''Protected Zone'' means the area the boundaries of which are described in
Annex 9 to the Torres Strait Treaty, and includes-

   (a)  in relation to any act or thing done for the purposes of commercial
        fishing-any area adjacent to the first-mentioned area and to the north
        of the line described in Annex 5 to the Torres Strait Treaty, being an
        area that is, under the laws of Papua New Guinea, declared to be an
        area that is outside but near the Protected Zone for the purposes of
        commercial fishing; and

   (b)  in relation to any act or thing done for the purposes of traditional
        fishing-any area adjacent to the first-mentioned area and to the north
        of the line described in Annex 5 to the Torres Strait Treaty, being an
        area that is, under the laws of Papua New Guinea, declared to be an
        area that is in the vicinity of the Protected Zone for the purposes of
        traditional fishing;

''Secretary'' means the Secretary to the Department;

''sedentary organism'' means any species of marine organism that, at the
harvestable stage, is-

   (a)  immobile on or under the seabed; or

   (b)  unable to move except in constant physical contact with the seabed or
        the subsoil;

''take'' includes catch or capture;

''Torres Strait Treaty'' means the Treaty between Australia and the
Independent State of Papua New Guinea concerning sovereignty and maritime
boundaries in the area between the two countries, including the area known as
the Torres Strait, and related matters that was signed at Sydney on 18
December 1978, being the treaty a copy of which, apart from Annexes 2, 4, 6
and 7 to that treaty, is set out in the Schedule;

''traditional fishing'' has the same meaning as in the Torres Strait Treaty,
but does not include fishing by a method, or with the use of equipment or a
boat, of a kind specified in a notice in force under sub-section (2);

''traditional inhabitants'' has, subject to sub-section (3), the same meaning
as in the Torres Strait Treaty;

''Treaty endorsement'' means an endorsement of a Papua New Guinea licence made
under sub-section 20 (1).

(2) The Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, declare that the
taking by traditional inhabitants of fish by a method, or with the use of
equipment or a boat, of a kind specified in the notice is not traditional
fishing.

(3) For the purposes of this Act-

(a) the reference in the definition of ''traditional inhabitants'' in Article
1 of the Torres Strait Treaty to the adjacent coastal area of Australia shall
be read as a reference to any area adjacent to the Protected Zone and to the
south of the line described in Annex 5 to the Torres Strait Treaty that is
declared by the Minister, by notice published in the Gazette, to be part of
the adjacent coastal area of Australia; and

   (b)  the reference in that definition in that Article to the adjacent
        coastal area of Papua New Guinea shall be read as a reference to any
        area adjacent to the Protected Zone and to the north of the line
        described in Annex 5 to the Torres Strait Treaty that is declared by
        the Minister, by notice published in the Gazette, to be part of the
        adjacent coastal area of Papua New Guinea.

(4) The Minister may, by writing under his hand-

   (a)  authorize a person, or a person included in a specified class of
        persons, being a person who is-

        (i)    an officer or employee of the Commonwealth or an officer or
               employee of an authority of the Commonwealth or of a Territory;
               or

        (ii)   an officer or employee of Queensland or of an authority of
               Queensland,

to perform duties under this Act; or

   (b)  authorize a person nominated by the Papua New Guinea Minister to
        perform duties under this Act.

(5) References in this Act to activities carried on for private purposes or to
fishing for private purposes shall be read as not including references to
activities carried on in the course of traditional fishing.

(6) References in this Act to the holder of a Treaty endorsement shall be read
as references to the holder of the Papua New Guinea licence in respect of
which the Treaty endorsement was made.