STATEMENT
EXPLANATORY Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No. 2
Issued by the authority of the Acting Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries
and Forestry
Fisheries Levy Act 1984
Fisheries Levy (Torres Strait Prawn Fishery) Amendment Regulations 2009
(No. 1)
The Regulation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the
Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Section 8 of the Fisheries Levy Act 1984 (Levy Act) provides that the
Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of sections 5 and 6
of the Levy Act. Section 5 of the Levy Act imposes a levy on, amongst
other things, the grant or renewal of a licence and of the allocation and
renewal of units of fishing capacity issued under the Torres Strait
Fisheries Act 1984 (TSF Act). Section 6 of the Levy Act provides that the
amount of levy imposed on the grant or renewal of a licence or on the
allocation or renewal of units of fishing capacity is such an amount as is
specified in the Regulations. Section 7 of the Levy Act provides that the
levy is payable at the time of the grant or renewal of the licence or at
the time of the allocation or renewal of units of fishing capacity.
The Torres Strait Prawn Fishery (TSPF) is a Protected Zone Joint Authority
(PZJA) fishery under the TSF Act pursuant to an arrangement under section
31 of the TSF Act which came into effect on 1 April 1999. The Torres
Strait PZJA was established under the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984 to
manage Torres Strait fisheries on behalf of the Commonwealth and Queensland
under Commonwealth law, and in accordance with the Torres Strait Treaty
with PNG. Subsection 36(2) of the TSF Act provides that the powers of the
Minister under Part IV (Licences, endorsement and entries) of the TSF Act
are exercisable under those provisions by the PZJA as if references to the
Minister were references to the PZJA.
Subsections 19(2) and 19(3) of the TSF Act provide that the Minister may,
at his or her discretion, grant to a person a licence authorising the use
of a specified boat for taking fish in the course of commercial fishing and
for carrying, or processing and carrying, fish taken with the use of the
licensed boat in areas of Australian jurisdiction. The "area of Australian
jurisdiction" is defined in section 3 of the TSF Act and includes areas of
waters within the Torres Strait Protected Zone, as defined in the Torres
Strait Treaty at Schedule 1 of the TSF Act an area "outside but near" the
Protected Zone. Section 24 of the TSF Act provides that the Minister may
renew a licence granted under section 19.
The fishery is currently managed through restrictions on the number of
licences and fishing days. The number of days held varies between licensees
in the fishery. So as to provide an equitable recovery of the costs the
levy has a fixed (per licence) and a variable (per day) component which are
collected upon renewal of the licence before the season begins on 1 March
each year.
A Management Plan is under development for the fishery. The Management Plan
provides for the allocation of units of fishing capacity. The units of
fishing capacity are then converted annually into a number of fishing days
depending on the total allowable effort (TAE) for the fishery in a given
season. The Management Plan is expected to be implemented in time for the
commencement of the prawn fishing season on 1 March 2009.
The purpose of the Regulation is to be able to charge a 'fixed' levy (per
licence granted, renewed or varied) and a 'variable' levy (per unit
allocated to each licence at the commencement of the season under the new
Management Plan) and a levy for additional days/units which may be
allocated to licence holders during the season.
Although fishing days will be used in the fishery, the variable component
of the levies will be charged on a per unit basis under the new Management
Plan. While the Management Plan is expected to be implemented in time for
the 2009 fishing season, any delays with implementation will result in a
continuance of the existing management system of licences and fishing days
for the 2009 fishing season. Accordingly, the levy regulations provide for
the variable component of the levies to be charged either on a per unit
basis if the fishery is operating under the Management Plan, or on days
issued if the Management Plan does not operate during the 2009 season.
This will ensure the Commonwealth is able to recover the associated costs
of managing the fishery in accordance with the PZJA's cost recovery policy
for the Torres Strait Prawn fishery.
The Regulation amends the Fisheries Levy (Torres Strait Prawn Fishery)
Regulations 1998 (Principal Regulations) increasing the levy for licences
granted or renewed in respect of the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery from
$2,786.78 to $5,833.39 per licence (fixed component) and an increase in the
levy for each individual allocated fishing day (or unit under the
Management Plan) authorised by licences from $9.88 to $32.35 per unit
(variable component).
The substantial increase in both the fixed and variable component of the
levy is principally due to the conclusion of the Australian Government's
$500,000 levy relief program. The levy relief subsidy does not apply for
the 2008-2009 financial year. The levy relief program funding was
appropriated in 2006 to support a structural adjustment process. The
program provided a $250,000 levy relief subsidy for the 2006-2007 and 2007-
2008 financial years and aimed to minimise the redistribution of fishery
costs on the remaining licensees. The overall budget for the fishery for
2008-2009 only increased by 1.7% ($9,400) from the 2007-2008 financial
year, prior to the application of an unspend of $64,376 from the 2006/2007
financial year which was applied to the 2007/2008 budget as a credit and an
overspend of $16,339 from the 2007/2008 financial year which has been
applied to the 2008/2009 budget as a debit (total $80,715) - total change
$90,115.
The attributable costs of managing the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery are
recovered from industry pursuant to a decision of the PZJA. The PZJA agreed
to the splitting of the costs to be recovered on the basis of fixed (per
boat) and variable (per day) components so providing an equitable division
of expenses depending on operators' investment in the fishery. The Prawn
Fishery is the only Torres Strait fishery currently subject to cost
recovery arrangements.
The levy costs the for Prawn Fishery are attributable to services provided
by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and the Queensland
Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (QDPI&F). QDPI&F is
responsible for administering the licensing component in management of this
fishery and distributing the annual levy invoices. AFMA is responsible for
general management and consultation in relation to the fishery.
Attachment A describes the basis for the levy costs in accordance with
previous practice and indicates the changes from the levy collected for
2007-2008.
The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the
Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Authority: Section 8 of the
Fisheries Levy Act 1984
Attachment A - Basis of the levy
Table 1 describes the basis for the levy costs in accordance with previous
practice and indicates the changes from the levy collected for 2007-2008.
Table 1. Levy Calculation
|Licence Component 2009 |Unit (or day1) Component 2009 |2008-2009 levy
|2007-2008 levy |Increase/ (Decrease) | |Logbook data - AFMA | |$16,377
|$16,377 |$18,805 |($2,428) | |Other logbook - AFMA |$15,345 | |$15,345
|$39,045 |($23,700) | |Surveillance
- QB&FP
- AFMA
Sub-total |
$32,100
$1,939
$34,039 |
$32,100
$1,939
$34,039 |
$64,200
$3,878
$68,078 |
$62,336
$5,833
$68,169 |
$1,864
($1,955)
($91) | |Administration and Licensing
- AFMA
- QDPI&F
Sub-total |
$211,343
$65,748
$277,091 |
$140,895
$43,832
$184,727 |
$352,238
$109,580
$461,818 |
$319,980
$106,219
$426,199 |
$32,258
$3,361
$35,619 | |
Total Budget |
$326,475 |
$235,143 |
$561,618 |
$552,218 |
$9,400
| |Levy relief | | |$0 |($250,000) | | |(Surplus)/deficit |$29,362
|($13,023) |$16,339 |($64,376) | | |Total levy base |$355,837 |$222,120
|$577,957 |$237,842 |$340,115 2 | |1 The TSPF Management Plan is currently
on track for implementation for the commencement of the 2009 fishing
season, however any delays with implementation of the Plan would mean the
fishery would continue to operate under the existing system of licenses and
fishing days for the 2009 season. To allow for this, the levy regulations
include both a per unit and a per day charge for the variable component of
levies.
2 The significant increase in the total levy base is principally the result
of the end of the levy relief of $250,000 that applied for the 2007-2008
financial year. The 2007-2008 levy was further reduced by a $64,376
underspend from 2006-2007.
The total levy base for the fishery for 2009 is $577,957 comprising
$355,837 in 'fixed' licensing costs and $222,120 in 'variable' costs for
the fishing unit component.
The levy cost per licence for 2009 is $5,833.39. This is derived by
dividing the total 'fixed' licence component of $355,837 by the total
number of licences in the fishery (61).
The levy cost per unit allocated for 2009 is $32.35. This is derived by
dividing the total 'variable' unit component of $222,120 by the total
number of units allocated in the fishery (6867).
There has been an overall increase in the 2008-2009 TSPF budget of $9,400
(1.7%) when compared to the 2007-2008 financial year.
Increases to the budget have occurred in the following areas;
. AFMA - administration - due to an increase in staff salaries and
overheads (this was an AFMA wide increase) as well as travel
(attributed to increased airfares) and meeting expenses; and
. QB&FP and QDPI&F - surveillance and administration/licensing costs -
due to salaries and associated costs in line with enterprise
bargaining agreements.
Decreases to the budget have occurred in the following areas;
. AFMA logbook data entry - this is a result of changes to the structure
within AFMA resulting in less FTE time being apportioned to the TSPF;
. Observer program - due to a reduction in administration...