Australia · Spearfishing zone
Iinalang Special Purpose Zone (cultural protection), Bardi Jawi Gaarra Marine Park (Western Australia)
What this zone is
Overview
How spearfishing is treated at Iinalang Special Purpose Zone (cultural protection), Bardi Jawi Gaarra Marine Park (Western Australia).
A cultural-protection zone of Bardi Jawi Gaarra Marine Park covering the largest of the twelve areas, running from north-west of Swan Island past Tyra Island into Karrakatta Bay and Curlew Bay. Clause 4(2) of the Prohibition on Fishing (Bardi Jawi Gaarra Marine Park) Order 2025 — made under s.43 of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 and published in Government Gazette No. 111 on 19 September 2025 — provides that a person must not fish by any means in a Special Purpose area (cultural protection). Spearfishing is therefore prohibited. Clause 5(2) lists the only exceptions: customary fishing by Bardi Jawi people, commercial trochus take, recreational fishing from a charter boat, and shore-based recreational fishing run as part of a tourism operation under a commercial operations licence. A visiting spearfisher on a private boat or on foot is not within any of those exceptions. Measured from the gazetted polygon, the zone spans about 14.1 km north-south by 24.5 km east-west and encloses roughly 234 km2 of water in 261 separate pieces.
On the coast
Location
Approximate reference point for this zone. See the full picture on the interactive map.
16.3628°S, 123.1491°E
View on the mapSource
This zone is documented in the official source below.
Before you dive
License for Australia
Whether you need a license to spearfish here, and how to get one.
Online via the relevant state fisheries authority website, or from authorised agents/tackle shops.
Get your licenseOpens the official portal · dpird.nsw.gov.au



