Australia · Spearfishing zone
Zanoni historic shipwreck protected zone, Gulf St Vincent (South Australia)
What this zone is
Overview
How spearfishing is treated at Zanoni historic shipwreck protected zone, Gulf St Vincent (South Australia).
A 550-metre-radius protected zone around the wreck of the composite barque Zanoni, which capsized in a squall in the upper Gulf St Vincent on 11 February 1867 and now lies in about 18 metres of water some 50 km south-east of Ardrossan. The Zanoni was declared an historic shipwreck on 12 May 1983 and the protected zone was declared at the same time by notice in the South Australian Government Gazette under section 7(1) of the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1981 (SA). Regulation 5(1)(d) of the Historic Shipwrecks Regulations 2017 (SA) makes it an offence, without a permit granted by the Minister under section 15 of the Act, to "trawl, dive or engage in any other underwater activity within a protected zone" (maximum penalty $10 000, expiation fee $750); regulation 5(1)(a)-(c) separately bans bringing or using diving equipment there, or letting a vessel carrying it enter or remain. Spearfishing inside the circle is therefore an offence unless you hold a permit, and so is simply diving on the wreck. Because the site is well known to divers, the state sank the No. 5 dumb hopper barge one nautical mile due south of the Zanoni in 1984 as a legal alternative dive and fishing site — that barge is outside the protected zone. This is a state, not a Commonwealth, restriction: the Commonwealth Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 replaced the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 (Cth) on 1 July 2019 but, as the Department for Environment and Water states, "the changes do not apply to underwater cultural heritage in South Australian waters, which continues to be administered under the South Australian Historic Shipwrecks Act 1981", and the Zanoni does not appear in the Commonwealth (Protected Zones) Declaration Instrument 2019.
On the coast
Location
Approximate reference point for this zone. See the full picture on the interactive map.
34.5122°S, 138.0633°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



