NT Major Events is investigating the legality of the latest $10,000 barramundi caught in the NT Government’s Million Dollar Fish competition, after publicly announcing the barra was caught in the Little Finniss River, which the Amateur Fishermen’s Association has said traditional owners closed completely to fishing.

NT Major Events posted on its website that Humpty Doo fisho Nathan Farmer caught the 71cm barramundi with a $10,000 tag on the Little Finniss River on Sunday.

The NT Independent understands NT Fisheries contacted Major Events, which runs the competition, to inform them the fish was potentially caught in a restricted zone even though Major Events knew where it was caught.

Major Events did not go public with concerns over where it was caught, but did respond to the NT Independent’s questions on Tuesday afternoon about the legality of the catch.

After announcing the catch, the corporation limited who could comment on its Facebook post, with sources saying Major Events had been deleting comments raising the issue of where the fish had been caught. The Facebook post said the fish was caught in the Finniss River.

“We are currently investigating the latest prize-tagged fish recapture and working with the angler on exactly where the fish was caught and as to whether permits are required,” Major Events media spokesperson Isabella Hood said.

Mr Farmer did not respond to questions through Facebook messenger.

Ms Hood did not say what sort of penalty Mr Farmer faced if the fish was caught illegally, what would happen to the money, or why Major Events did not make its suspicions public.

AFANT chief executive officer David Ciaravolo told the NT Independent to ask the Northern Land Council about where the fish was caught, and later did not answer phone calls or a text message.

A well-placed source said that after the initial inquiry from the NT Independent, AFANT shut its office down at short notice for Christmas.

The Northern Land Council would not make comment about where the fish was caught.

A traditional owner, Dr Linda Ford, did not respond to a phone call, text or email. The Little Finniss River runs on Delissaville/Wagait/Larrakia Aboriginal Land Trust land.

SportsBet, which underwrites the prize money for the NT Government, did not respond to questions including if the government had told them about the potential issue.

Several well-placed fishing sources, who or familiar with the area, said the fish was caught on the Little Finniss, and said you could tell where it was caught from the background of the photo of Mr Farmer with his prized catch.

The river mouth is identified on the NLC website as being part of a stretch of coastland which runs from the Finniss River down to near Channel Point near the Perin Islands where fishing is banned under Aboriginal inter-tidal waters access rules developed after the Blue Mud Bay decision.

While it is not made clear on the website exactly what the status of the rest of the river is, an AFANT statement says fishing was also banned on the Little Finniss River, and this is backed up by multiple industry sources who have also said fishing is banned on the river. They said there are also no permits for the river because the local traditional owners do not allow it.

A media release by Recreational Fishing Minister Paul Kirby in June, stated fishing was banned in the Finniss River as well, but the NLC website says fishing is allowed on the northern bank to about 5km upstream from the mouth of the river, beyond which it is controlled by the Delissaville/Wagait/Larrakia Aboriginal Land Trust, and access is restricted.

“If I went up the Little Finniss and caught a fish, they wouldn’t be giving me any money, they would be having me charged,” one source said.

“A video showing where they caught the fish was taken at low tide about 200m inside the mouth of the Little Finniss. It is a very distinctive spot.”

Another source said there were no signs at Dundee Beach where people launched their boats to warn people fishing in that of the coast was not allowed, and the restrictions themselves were brought in earlier in the year as a shock announcement.

While another source said the area was a bit dead this time of year, but illegal fishing is rampant in the areas especially from April, and it is something that would be enforced by the Water Police Unit. But a fourth source said police would only infrequently patrol the Little Finniss River, and they would mostly only go there if they received information about illegal fishing.

“Most of them don’t seem to give a fuck,” the said about people fishing in the banned areas.

“They are not well educated on where they cannot fish. There is a also a lot of confusion some poor anglers who have no idea whether it is open or closed.

“I think government says it’s up the NLC and the AFANT to sort it out themselves.”

With each $10,000 fish caught, an additional $1000 is donated to a selected charity. Mr Farmer told the media he had selected Shoreline, which “cultivates educational programs and employment pathways to create sustainable careers for young Indigenous Australians”.

At the bottom on the Million Dollar Fish website is a statement about respect for traditional owners.

“Northern Territory Major Events Company respectfully acknowledges the past, present and emerging traditional owners of the beautiful land on which we live, work and gather,” it says.

“We respect the cultural practices and traditions of our hosts, recognise the importance of sustainably caring for our country, and commit to being respectful visitors to traditional lands.”