Fisheries Act 1994 (Fish Habitat Areas)
Fish Habitat Areas (FHAs) are declared under the Fisheries Act 1994. Queensland has 72 declared FHAs along its coast. This network provides long-term protection of high-quality fish habitats from the physical impacts of coastal development. This protection is essential for sustaining recreational, commercial and Indigenous fisheries.
The primary purpose of the Fisheries Act (and its Regulations) is to provide for the use, conservation and enhancement of the community’s fisheries resources and fish habitats in a way that seeks to:
(a) apply and balance the principles of ecologically sustainable development
(b) promote ecologically sustainable development.
Together with the Planning Act 2016 (the state’s overarching development assessment legislation), the Fisheries Act (and its Regulations) provides a legislative framework for the assessment of development works in declared FHAs that balances the principles of ecologically sustainable development and community access to fisheries resources, with the continued protection of fish habitats.
FHA legislation is supported by operational policies for managing FHAs and for the selection, assessment, declaration and review of FHAs. There is also a statutory Code of Practice for pest control in FHAs.
