Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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FISHING LEVY (SOUTHERN BLUEFIN TUNA FISHERY) REGULATIONS 1995 NO. 395

STATUTORY RULES 1995 No. 395

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Resources

Fishing Levy Act 1991

Fisheries Management Act 1991

Fishing Levy (Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery) Regulations

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 GovernorGeneral 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 statutory fishing right (SFR).

The Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery (the fishery) is managed under the Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery Management Plan 1995 (the Plan) and the Fisheries Management (Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery) Regulations (the Management Regulations). The Plan provides for management of the fishery under SFRs, where a SFR allows, during a season, for the taking of a quantity of Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) determined by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA). The season is defined in the Management Regulations. SFRs have a fife that extends for the life of the Plan, thus extending beyond a season.

The Plan replaces the former Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery Management Plan (the former Plan), made under the Fisheries Act 1952, which was repealed in relation to the fishery in February 1995. The SFRs in the Plan replace former units of fishing capacity (units) under the former Plan at a rate of 1 SFR for each one thousandth of a unit, so as to preserve the minimum quantity that can be traded.

The purpose of the Fishing Levy (Southern Bluefin Tuna, Fishery) Regulations (the Regulations) is to set a new rate of levy for the fishery consistent with levy arrangements set for previous years under the former Plan and the Fisheries Levy (Southern Bluefin Tuna) Regulations, made under the Fisheries Levy Act 1984.

The Regulations:

•       set the amount of levy that would be payable for each SFR in the fishery; and

•       set the dates by which the levy would be due and payable. Levy would be payable in three instalments, to facilitate collection of the levy in the financial year to which it relates.

The levy is collected to cover the estimated costs incurred by AFMA in managing the fishery during the 1995/1996 financial year and the research component.

The management costs comprise only those costs (such as surveillance costs and the cost of running the Management Advisory Committee for the fishery) that are estimated to be recoverable from the Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) fishing industry during the 1995/1996 financial year, in accordance with the Commonwealth's policy of full cost recovery in Commonwealth managed fisheries. The remaining costs of management (such as the costs of prosecutions for offences) are paid by the Commonwealth. Management costs contribute 29.73 cents per SFR to the levy.

The research component is the annual contribution by the SBT fishing industry to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. This contribution would be recovered on a pro rata basis from each of the holders of SFRs. The research component contributes 2.63 cents per SFR to the levy.

The total levy payable is 32.36 cents per SFR, or $323.60 per 1000 SFRs in 1995/1996. This represents a saving of $52.94 when compared to the levy for 1994/1995 of $376.54 per unit under the former Plan.

The savings in the levy come from:

•       a lower level in projected activity in a joint venture between Australian holders of SFRS and owners of Japanese boats used to fish under those SFRs - this resulted in the projected management costs for the fishery being lower in 1995/1996 than in 1994/1995; and

•        a carry over of unspent levy collected in 1994/1995 - this resulted from AFMA achieving savings in actual expenditure in 1994/1995 compared to the estimates made in the 1994/1995 budget for the fishery, on the basis of which the 1994/1995 levy was calculated.

Although the parties to the joint venture recently suspended their fishing activities, the agreement between AFMA and the joint venture remains in force. This agreement effectively requires AFMA to continue to be ready, willing and able to provide fishery management services to the joint venture as part of AFMA management of the fishery, particularly as fishing operations by the joint venture might recommence at any time. The levy for the fishery has been calculated accordingly.

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

Regulation 1 provides for the Regulations to be cited as the Fishing Levy (Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery) Regulations.

Regulation 2 provides for the commencement of Regulations on 16 December 1995, the commencement of the 199511996 season in the fishery.

Regulation 3 provides definitions of the terms used in the Regulations. The note refers to matters defined in the Plan.

Regulation 4 specifies the rate of levy payable on the SFRs. The note to the regulation explains that holders of the SFRs would pay 2.63 cents per SFR from the levy as the fishery's contribution to the research component.

Regulation 5 provides that the levy is due and payable in 3 equal instalments and specifies when those instalments fall due.