EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENT
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Commonwealth Pelagic Fisheries Catch Disposal Record, PT02A Determination 2008
Determination No. PT02A (the Determination) is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Subsection 42(1) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Act) provides that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) may, by a written determination, in relation to a particular fishery, provide for holders of fishing concessions in respect of that fishery to keep and maintain logbooks containing information in respect of their activities in that fishery.
Subsection 42(1A) of the Act provides that a determination by AFMA in respect of a particular fishery may cover matters including the form and content of logbooks for that fishery to be kept by the concession holder, the secure storage, period of retention and the furnishing to AFMA of the logbook and information contained within.
Subsection 42(1B) of the Act provides that the content of the logbook kept by the holder of a fishing concession in respect of a particular fishery, and of any return of information from such a logbook, may extend to information in relation to the taking, carrying, landing, transhipping, transportation, processing and sale of fish under that fishing concession and the course or position inside, or outside, the outer limits of the Australian Fishing Zone of boats to which the fishing concession relates.
Fishery
The Commonwealth Pelagic Fisheries Catch Disposal Record (CDR) requires holders of a Commonwealth pelagic longline fishing concessions in the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery, Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery, High Seas Fishery and relevant Fish Receiver Permit Holders, to provide verified records of fish catches.
The Determination determines the form and content of the logbook to be kept and maintained by all relevant concession holders in the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery, Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery, and High Seas Fishery. Copies of the Commonwealth Pelagic Fisheries Catch Disposal Record (PT02A) can be obtained from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.
Objectives
The CDR known as PT02A differs from the current PT02 in the following respects:
- Name change from PT02 to PT02A.
- Update contact phone numbers for AFMA and added website address.
- Wording of ‘authorised representative’ changed to ‘authorised agent’ making terminology consistent with the authorised agent nomination form.
- Submission time for CDR sheets changed from 24hours to 3 calendar days to be consistent with other CDRs and encourage prompt return of CDR.
Inside Front Cover
5. Heading and any reference to ‘Commonwealth Catch Disposal Record’ has been changed to ‘Commonwealth Pelagic Fisheries Catch Disposal Record’.
6. ‘Take-home packs’ dot point removed. Take-home packs originated to allow fishers to take home a small amount of quota species. As there are no species currently under quota in the fisheries that use this CDR, this field is not relevant.
7. For queries relating to CDR completion, operators now contact AFMA Quota Management, not AFMA Compliance.
Instructions for Fishers and Fish Receivers
8. Number of fish, must now be recorded for all species in the ‘carcass no’ column.
9. Submission time for blue copy changed from 10 days to 3 calendar days.
10. A paragraph was included to remind operators that catches of southern bluefin tuna and northern bluefin tuna are to be recorded in a separate CDR.
11. Removed ‘note: you cannot receive (fully processed) shark’ from the form code dot point. The note was removed as processed shark maybe allowed to be landed in the future.
12. The note referring to mixed species has been removed and replaced with ‘the accurate weight in kg for each species retained must be recorded’. This is to account for each fish captured.
CDR Page
13. An additional box was inserted in the ‘Number of Vehicles’ field to enable more than 5 vehicles to be recorded.
14. The code for blue shark ‘TR’ was replaced with ‘BLS’ as TR was incorrect.
15. The code for tiger shark ‘TSM’ was replaced with ‘TSH’ as TSM was incorrect.
16. Inclusion of a form code for sharks ‘TR = trunked’.
17. Inclusion of a form code for tuna-like species and scalefish ‘F = Filleted.
18. The species list has been changed to be the same as the AL06 logbook with the exception of southern blue fin tuna as to be consistent.
19. The addition of fields to allow recoding of transhipping to the part A, to capture any transhipping.
20. The note referring to mixed species has been removed and replaced with ‘the accurate weight in kg for each species retained must be recorded’. This is to account for each fish captured.
Consultation
Internal consultation was undertaken with managers in relation to the amendments to the CDR and agreed to the changes. As the determination is minor or machinery in nature no further consultation was under taken.
Regulation Impact Statement
Office of Best Practice Regulation issued a RIS exception (OBPR ID 9639) due to the proposal being of a minor or machinery nature that does not substantially alter existing arrangements.
The Act does not specify any condition as needing to be met before the power to make the Determination may be exercised.
Determination
The details of the Determination are set out below:
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1 provides for the Determination to be cited as the PT02A Commonwealth Pelagic Fisheries Catch Disposal Record 2008.
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2 provides that the Determination commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3 defines the term “Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery”, ‘Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery”, and “High Seas Fishery”.
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4 determines the form and content of the logbook known as PT02A to be kept and maintained by all Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery, Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery, and High Seas Fishery concession holders.
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5 defines who must keep and maintain the Commonwealth Pelagic Fisheries Catch Disposal Record, PT02A.
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6 cites Attachment A as the Commonwealth Pelagic Fisheries Catch Disposal Record, PT02A.