There is more on Angler Access in a subsequent post.

In 2022 NSWCFA sought formal advice regarding a possible contradiction between the Fisheries Management Act which allows anglers specific/defined access to streams, and the Biosecurity Act, which allows landowners to have management plans which affect how people access and behave on their properties. I wrote about it in Burley Line but after discussions were raised in a recent CAA meeting, I thought useful to put into ‘Tips’ blog.

Mr Jim Harnwell, DPI Program Leader Stocking & Fisheries Enhancement Operation, sought advice from DPI’s legal team, .

The advice is:

The Biosecurity Regulation states that Division 12, which applies to biosecurity management plans, “does not apply to a person who enters or is in a management area under the authority of an Act or another law.”

Section 38 of the FMA provides authority for fishers to enter land to take fish, in certain circumstances. This means biosecurity management plans do not apply to fishers if they are on land, taking fish, in accordance with section 38.

The authority to be on land under section 38 of the FMA is limited by section 38. For a fisher to rely on section 38 they must be in a boat on the river or creek or on the bed of the river or creek. Bed is defined as “bed of a river or creek includes any part of the bed of the river or creek which is alternatively covered and left bare with an increase or decrease in the supply of water (other than during floods).”

If fishers are not taking fish and in a boat on the waters of a river or creek, or on the bed of the river or creek, any biosecurity management plan on the relevant land will apply to fishers. To be clear, they cannot access land where there is a biosecurity management plan in place beyond the bed of the river or creek, except in accordance with that biosecurity management plan.

The crux then becomes the definition of ‘bed of the river or creek’. This was the subject of another post on the website. Here. Suffice to say if you are standing in the water you are within the law. Standing on dry land of the bank becomes problematic.

Regardless, even if the angler had been accessing the water in accordance with the laws, seeking to argue relevant rights with an aggrieved property owner will generally not go well. Sticking to public access points, or knocking on doors to ask permission removes uncertainty.