Introduction of disease or parasites into new areas can have serious impacts on native fish populations and may impact on the future viability of freshwater fish stocking programs. While to date there are no reports of this having occurred in Australian freshwater systems, recent risk assessments show that there is heightened risk of disease transfer between catchments through the use of freshwater animals such as fish and crustaceans and saltwater animals such as yabbies, prawns and small fish as bait. While there are already specific regulations controlling the use of some live bait to help prevent disease transfer, these are believed to be inadequate given the expansion of recreational fishing in freshwater.
To prevent the spread of disease and parasites in Queensland’s freshwater systems, From 1 February 2015 the use of baits from the marine (saltwater) environment has been prohibited in freshwater unless the bait has been frozen, cooked or preserved.
For more information, check out www.daff.qld.gov.au/fisheries
