Abalone fishery

The South Australian commercial abalone fishery takes greenlip and blacklip abalone.

Abalone fisheries zone

The commercial abalone fishery is divided into 3 zones:

• Western zone
• Central zone
• Southern zone

Licensing

There are currently no new licences available for commercial fishing in the abalone fishery.

Licence expiry

Abalone licences last for the term of the Abalone fishery management plan (PDF 3.3 MB).

The current management plan expires in 2031.

Fees

Commercial licence fees must be paid each financial year. Invoices are issued annually in June and payments can be made:

• up-front
• in a lump sum
• in quarterly instalments.

Licence transfer

Licences can be transferred from one person to another.

Application to transfer an abalone fishery licence (PDF 293.1 KB)

Boat registration and de-registration

Every boat that is used for commercial fishing must be registered.

Use the application to vary a boat registration endorsement (PDF 138.8 KB) to register or de-register a boat.

Boat master registration

All people who act as a commercial fishing boat master must be registered by the licence holder.
Multiple boat masters can be registered using the form below.

Application to change registration of a master/s (PDF 186.2 KB)

Quota trading

Licence holders can temporarily or permanently transfer their quota entitlements to another licence holder in the same zone using the Quota Trading Service or by using the forms below:

• Abalone central zone quota transfer (PDF 165.9 KB)
• Abalone southern zone quota transfer (PDF 158.2 KB)
• Abalone western zone quota transfer (PDF 165.3 KB)

Electronic reporting

As of 1 November 2024, licence holders are required to submit their catch and effort electronically through the Commercial Fishing SA application. Fishers can also access the myPIRSA portal and directly report their catch and effort electronically into the eCatch (Digital Reporting) Service.

Central zone

• Electronic reporting guide for commercial fishing (PDF 1.7 MB)
• Electronic catch and effort logs – Instructions for use (PDF 313.6 KB)

Southern zone

• Electronic reporting guide for commercial fishing (PDF 2.1 MB)
• Electronic catch and effort logs – Instructions for use (PDF 317.9 KB)

Abalone fishery management

Management plan:

• Abalone fishery management plan (PDF 3.3 MB)
• Ecologically sustainable development risk assessment report 2009 for the abalone fishery (PDF 868.9 KB).

Stock assessment reports:

• Western Zone Greenlip Abalone (Haliotis laevigata) and Blacklip Abalone (H. rubra) Fisheries in 2023–24 (PDF 6.5 MB)
• Status of the southern zone abalone (Haliotis rubra and H. laevigata) fishery in 2021–22 (PDF 2.2 MB)
• Status of the central zone abalone fisheries in 2022 (PDF 5.1 MB)
• Assessment of the central zone abalone (Haliotis laevigata & H. rubra) fishery in 2021
  (PDF 5.3 MB)
• Assessment of the southern zone abalone (Haliotis rubra and H. laevigata) fishery in 2022–23 (PDF 4.8 MB).

Economic indicator reports:

• BDO Australia website

Operator user guides:

• Central zone abalone fishery operator user guide (PDF 1.0 MB)

Department of Environment

The Australian Government Department of the Environment requires that all commercial fisheries that export product be assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Product from the abalone fishery is currently approved for export.

For more information, see South Australian managed fisheries.

Regulations

Fishing activities in the abalone fishery are regulated in the:

• Fisheries Management (Abalone Fisheries) Regulations 2017
• Fisheries Management (General) Regulations 2017.

Determinations

Closures

See the closures page for information about abalone closures.

Contact

Central and western zone abalone
Steve Shanks – Manager, Commercial Fisheries
Phone: (08) 8429 0197
Email: steve.shanks@sa.gov.au

Southern zone abalone
Hamish Telfer – Fisheries Manager
Phone: (08) 8767 2358
Email: hamish.telfer@sa.gov.au