Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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FISHING LEVY (NORTH EAST DEEP WATER FISHERY) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1996NO. 52

STATUTORY RULES 1996 No. 52

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Resources and Energy

Fishing Levy Act 1991

Fisheries Management Act 1991

Fishing Levy (North East Deep Water Fishery) Regulations (Amendment)

Section 8 of the Fishing Levy Act 1991 (the Levy Act) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations for the purposes of section 6 of the Levy Act.

Section 5 of the Levy Act imposes levy in respect of a fishing concession. Section 6 of the Levy Act provides that the amount of levy imposed on the fishing concession is the amount prescribed by the Regulations. Sections 5 and 6 of the Levy Act commenced prior to the grant of the fishing concessions, in respect of which the levy is imposed.

Section 168 of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Management Act) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations for the purposes of the Management Act. Section 110 of the Management Act provides that the levy imposed by the Levy Act is due and payable at a time or times ascertained in accordance with regulations made under the Management Act.

"Fishing concession" is defined under the Levy Act and the Management Act to mean, among other things, a fishing permit.

The Fishing Levy (North East Deep Water Fishery) Regulations (the principal Regulations) set the levy payable on fishing permits for the North East Deep Water Fishery (the fishery) and specifies when the levy is due and payable.

The purpose of the Fishing Levy (North East Deep Water Fishery) Fishery Regulations (Amendment) (the Regulations) is to implement levy arrangements for the fishery for the 199511996 financial year and in particular to:

* introduce a new leviable sector in the fishery and set levy for that sector;

* decrease the amount of levy for the existing sector of the fishery;

* set new dates by which the levy is due and payable; and

* amend the area of the fishery.

The new Aquarium Fish Sector has been included in the fishery along with the previously existing Deep Water Sector. These sectors are distinguished on the basis of species of fish and methods used to take these fish. The new sector and the alteration to the area of the fishery arise from revisions to management of the fishery by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority. These revisions result from Offshore Constitutional Settlement (OCS) Agreements made with Queensland in early 1995.

Levy for the Deep Water Sector has decreased from $1500 payable in the 1994/1995 financial year to $1060 payable in the 1995/1996 financial year. The decrease in this levy results primarily from a substantial reduction in management effort for the fishery and deferral of the introduction of a management plan for the fishery.

The 1995/1996 financial year is the first year that levy has been recovered by the Commonwealth from the Aquarium Fish Sector fishing industry, as this sector was previously managed under Queensland law. The levy is set at $500 per fishing permit, to recover a proportion of actual management costs for the 1995/1996 financial year, taking account of the recent transfer of jurisdiction to the Commonwealth and subsequent alterations in the calculation of the levy.

The new rates of levy are collected to cover a proportion of the estimated costs incurred by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority in managing the fishery during the current financial year and the research component.

*       The management costs relate only to those costs (such as the cost of running the management advisory committee for the fishery) that are estimated to be recoverable from the North East Deep Water Fishery fishing industry during the financial year in which they are collected. The remaining costs of management (such as the costs of prosecutions for offences) are paid by the Commonwealth.

*       The research component is the annual contribution of the North East Deep Water Fishery fishing industry to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. This contribution would be recovered at a rate of $60 from each holder of a fishing permit and is calculated to be 0.25 per cent of the Gross Value of Product of the fishery, in accordance with current Government policy.

The new rates of levy apply to fishing permits granted during the 1995/1996 financial year. Holders of these fishing permits were advised at the the that their fishing permits were granted that levy would be payable during the financial year.

Details of the Regulations, which commenced on gazettal, are set out below:

Regulation 1 provides that the Regulations amend the principal Regulations. The note provides that the Regulations commenced on gazettal.

Regulation 2 amends definitions in the principal Regulations, in particular:

*       revising the definition of the fishery, to ensure that operators in geographically overlapping fisheries are not inadvertently made liable for levy relating to the fishery; and

*       inserting a reference to the Australian Geodetic Datum, to obviate any confusion about the meaning of coordinates listed in the Schedule that describe the area of the fishery.

Regulation 3 specifies the new rate of levy payable on fishing permits for each sector of the fishery. The note to the regulation explains that holders of fishing permits would pay $60 per fishing permit from the new rate of levy, as the holder's contribution to the research component, being the fishery's contribution to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.

Regulation 4 specifies the new dates on which the new rate of levy is due and payable.

Regulation 5 omits and replaces the Schedule to the principal Regulations, to redefine the area of the fishery.