- Licensing
- About Your Licence
- Wildcatch Licences
Wildcatch Licences
What you need to know about Wildcatch Seafood Harvesting licences.
Summary
- A Wildcatch licence is needed to harvest seafood for human consumption.
- There are three different wildcatch licences. The seafood species you harvest determines which licence you need.
- You only need one of these wildcatch licences. Apply for the licence that covers the species of seafood that you want to harvest and sell.
What Wildcatch licence to get
You do not need a PrimeSafe licence to harvest and sell live:
- fin fish
- abalone
- rock lobsters
- yabbies.
You only need one licence when you harvest and preserve seafood under a Wildcatch licence.
Get a Crustaceans licence to harvest crustaceans. You can also harvest any other species with this licence.
Get a General licence to harvest anything EXCEPT abalone, crustaceans and noxious fish.
Get a Noxious fish licence from PrimeSafe to harvest noxious fish only. You can’t harvest any other species with this licence.
With any of these Wildcatch licences you can:
- process the seafood to preserve it so that it is safe to sell (including cooking prawns onboard)
- sell seafood you have harvested from the vessel at the point of unloading.
With a Wildcatch licence you cannot:
- Process seafood other than to preserve it for sale (get a Seafood Processing Facility licence).
- Grow the seafood you harvest (get an Aquaculture licence).
All wildcatch businesses have to comply with the requirements of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.
This includes having a food safety program ONLY if you harvest bivalve shellfish (other Wildcatch licence types DO NOT need a Food Safety Program). The Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program Operations Manual sets out the procedures and administrative practices that will allow your food safety program to meet the food safety requirements for the production, harvest and storage of bivalve shellfish e.g. oysters, scallops, mussels and pipis.
Learn more about Food Safety programs.
When we give you a licence, you need to meet the licence conditions. Get help from us if you don’t understand your licence conditions.
Wildcatch licence holders must also hold a valid VFA (Victorian Fisheries Authority) licence.
Commonwealth Fisheries licence holders will need a PrimeSafe Commonwealth Wildcatch licence.
PrimeSafe will inspect your wildcatch harvesting vessels before you start operating and then randomly after that. We will contact you when you are due to be inspected.
Bivalve shellfish wildcatch businesses will have their Food Safety Program audited before they start operating and then twice each year.
All other wildcatch businesses do not need a Food Safety Program and are not audited.
There is an application fee when you apply for a new licence.
There is an annual fee to hold a licence that you pay each year in June.
There are other charges when you hold a licence with us.
You may have to pay a fine if you do not meet your licence conditions.
We follow the Department of Treasury and Finance’s guideline for setting fees and charges.
Our current fees
The amount of all seafood harvested and then landed (not thrown back or kept for bait) is added together to give the annual throughput.
Here is an example. If you harvest 1 tonne of crustaceans and 5 tonnes of fin fish each year, you will need a Crustaceans licence and your total throughput will be 6 tonnes. In this example the application fee will be $322 and the annual fee will be $643.
Throughput does not apply to Commonwealth Fisheries licence holders.
The current fees for wildcatch licenses are:
| Annual Throughput | Application Fee ($) | Annual Fee ($) |
| Victorian Wildcatch Crustaceans (excluding Rock Lobster) | ||
| Landed catch less than 1 tonne | 162 | 323 |
| Landed catch 1 to 5 tonnes | 244 | 488 |
| Landed catch 5 to 10 tonnes | 335 | 669 |
| Landed catch over 10 tonnes | 484 | 968 |
| Victorian Wildcatch General | ||
| Landed catch less than 10 tonnes | 162 | 323 |
| Landed catch 10 to 50 tonnes | 288 | 576 |
| Landed catch over 50 tonnes | 484 | 968 |
| Victorian Wildcatch Noxious Fish Permit | ||
| Landed catch less than 50 tonnes | 162 | 323 |
| Landed catch over 50 tonnes | 244 | 488 |
| Commonwealth Wildcatch | ||
| Throughput not applicable | 484 | 968 |
Calculate the total cost to apply for a licence
To apply for one of the Wildcatch licenses you need to pay:
- the application fee (paid once only)
- the licence fee (paid when first applying and then every year in June).
The amount you pay when you apply depends upon:
- the amount and type of seafood you want to harvest
- the time left until the licence is renewed in June (pro rata for the two highest fee categories).
Use the Fee Calculator to see what you will pay today to apply for a licence.
All our fees are GST exempt so we will not give you a tax invoice when you pay.
Fee Calculator
Please answer the following questions.
Standards and guidelines that apply
This manual covers the food standards for businesses harvesting bivalve shellfish for human consumption.
We're here to help
Send us your questions and we'll get back to you in two to seven business days.
