Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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FISHING LEVY (SOUTH EAST FISHERY) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1993 NO. 355

STATUTORY RULES 1993 No. 355

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy

Fishing Levy Act 1991

Fishing Levy (South East 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 Act.

Section 5 of the Act imposes levy in respect of a fishing concession. Section 6 of the Act provides that the amount of levy imposed on the fishing concession is the amount prescribed by the Regulations. "Fishing concession" is defined under the Levy Act and the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Management Act) to mean, among other things, a fishing permit.

Levy is imposed under the Levy Act on fishing permits granted under section 32 of the Management Act in relation to the South East Fishery (the fishery).

The Fishing Levy (South East Fishery) Regulations (the principal Regulations) prescribe the amounts of levy that are imposed by the Levy Act in respect of a fishing permit. The principal Regulations prescribe that the levy is payable at specified rates in respect of a fishing permit that allows fishing for units of quota of one or more of 16 specified species of fish by means of trawling in the area of the fishery.

The Regulations amend the principal Regulations to implement new rates of levy and require the payment of the amounts of levy set out in the third column of the table below, in respect of a unit of quota of each of the following species of fish. For the purposes of comparison, the rates of levy that were set under the principal Regulations for 1992/1993 are set out in the second column of the table.

Species	Cents per unit              of Quota     (1992/1993)	Cents per unit          of quota     (1993/1994)
Blue Eye Trevalla	7	12.1
Blue Grenadier	2	5.0
Blue Warehou	3	11.8
Flathead	3	4.7
Gemfish - Eastern Sector	4	4.0
Gemfish - Western Sector	4	5.6
Jackass Morwong	3	6.4
John Dory	9	8.0
Ling	5	16.4
Mirror Dory	2	3.2
Ocean Perch	3	10.3
Orange Roughy - Eastern Sector	7	3.1
Orange Roughy - Southern Sector	7	10.1
Orange Roughy - Western Sector	7	15.3
Redfish	5	6.5
Royal Red Prawn	3	3.7
School Whiting	2	2.6
Silver Trevally	1	1.4
Spotted Warehou	4	4.2

The new amount of levy that will be collected from the holder of a fishing permit for the fishery would be calculated by multiplying the new rates of levy by number of units of each species of fish allocated (as quota) to the holder of the permit, by means of specifying or varying a condition on the permit.

The new rates of levy have been agreed by the Management Advisory Committee for the fishery, the South East Trawl Management Advisory Committee (SETMAC) and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority. In accordance with the Commonwealth's current policy, the new rates of levy are calculated on the basis of recovering:

•       90 per cent of the estimated costs of managing the fishery during the 1993/1994 financial year from the holders of fishing permits in the fishery; and

•       the contribution by the fishing industry in the fishery, to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. This contribution is collected from the permit holders in the fishery and is calculated to be 0.25 per cent of the Gross Value of Product (GVP) of the fishery.

The new rates of levy arise from changes in the calculation of levy for each species of fish, and result in some considerable variations in the amount of levy per unit for each species between 1992/1993 and 1993/1994.

The changes in the calculation of levy are:

(a)        The total amount of levy expected to be collected from operators in the fishery in 1993/1994 is $2,121,853, an increase of 27 per cent on the 1992/1993 levy budget of $1,674,560. This increase reflects the complete attribution of the costs of managing the fishery which has not occurred in previous years, and takes account of other variations, including an increase in the estimated costs of administering SETMAC and a decrease in the fishing industry's contribution to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.

(b)        The formula for calculating levy for each species has changed from that used in 1992/1993. The changes are as follows:

•       The rates of levy for each of the sixteen species have been calculated to more accurately reflect the earnings of quota holders from each species in the fishery in the previous financial year. Previously, the approach was to use an average of the last three financial years' catch value information for each species. Adopting the new approach makes the calculation reflect current, rather than historical catch values.

•       For Orange Roughy, which is divided into three sectors, the levy per unit is calculated to make the effective rate of levy per kilogram of fish taken, the same in each sector. As the number of kilograms of Orange Roughy per unit is different in each sector, the levy per unit differs in each sector. This change facilitates the trading of Orange Roughy quota between sectors.

•       In addition, levy per unit for each of the sixteen species is now being calculated to the nearest tenth of a cent, rather than to the nearest cent, as in 1992/1993. This change allows for a better correlation between the levy collected from quota holders and the fishery's budget.

The increase in the 1993/1994 budget for the fishery had the effect of contributing pressure for an increase in the new rates of levy for all of the sixteen species. However, the changes to the formula resulted in a widely varying contribution to the new rates of levy for each of the sixteen species. The combined result of these factors is that most of the rates of levy increased from 1992/1993 and some of the rates of levy fell.

The Regulations amend Schedule 2 to the Principal Regulations to implement the new rates of levy. The Regulations also amend other schedules to the Principal Regulations to change the scientific names of species of fish to which the common name "Flathead" relates and also change the description of the area of the Orange Roughy - Eastern Sector. These two changes take account of revised management arrangements.

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

Regulation 1 provides that the Regulations amend the principal Regulations.

Regulation 2 amends Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations, by restricting the species of fish to which the common name "Flathead" applies.

Regulation 3 amends Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations, to specify the new rates of levy prescribed in respect of a fishing permit for the fishery.

Regulation 4 amends Schedule Part 1 of Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations, to describe the new area of the Orange Roughy - Eastern Sector, within the fishery.