Fisheries Levy (North West Shelf Deep-Water Trawl Fishery) Regulations (Amendment)

Overview

The Fisheries Levy Act 1984 was enacted by the Australian Parliament to address the need for a sustainable funding mechanism for managing fisheries resources, particularly in the context of the North West Shelf Deep-water Trawl Fishery. This Act allows for the imposition of a levy on the endorsement of fisheries licences, ensuring that management costs for the fishery are met effectively. The policy objective is to enable the recovery of management costs through this levy, thereby ensuring that the fishery is managed sustainably and efficiently. The Fisheries Levy (North West Shelf Deep-water Trawl Fishery) Regulations (Amendment) Statutory Rules 1989 No. 164 were subsequently introduced to provide specific details on the levy amount, which was set at $3,100 for each endorsement for the 1989/90 season, facilitating the effective management of the fishery.

Scope and Application

The Fisheries Levy (North West Shelf Deep-water Trawl Fishery) Regulations (Amendment) Statutory Rules 1989 No. 164 apply to entities and individuals who hold a fisheries licence endorsed for the North West Shelf Deep-water Trawl Fishery, as specified under the Fisheries Act 1952. This regulation targets the financial responsibility of licence holders by imposing a levy to cover management costs associated with the fishery. The scope of the Act is geographically focused on the North West Shelf region, and it operates under the overarching authority of the Fisheries Levy Act 1984, which is a Commonwealth Act. The levy is calculated by dividing the total management costs of the fishery by the number of endorsements issued under the approved NWSDWTF Development plan. The amendment specifies the levy amount for the 1989/90 season as $3,100 for each endorsement. The regulation will come into effect upon its gazette, ensuring that the financial obligations are clear and enforceable from that point forward.

Key Provisions

The Fisheries Levy (North West Shelf Deep-water Trawl Fishery) Regulations (Amendment) establish the levy for the 1989/90 season in respect of each endorsement of a fisheries licence for fishing in the North West Shelf Deep-water Trawl Fishery (NWSDWTF) (section 1). This regulation directly aligns with paragraph 5(b) of the Fisheries Levy Act 1984, which mandates the imposition of a levy upon endorsements of fisheries licences for certain prescribed classes. The levy amount is calculated by dividing the total management costs of the fishery by the number of endorsements to be issued, as per the NWSDWTF Development Plan, which has been approved by an industry/government advisory committee and the relevant Minister (section 2). Specifically, the regulations set the levy at $3,100 for the 1989/90 season for each endorsement (section 3). The obligations imposed by the Act and the subsequent regulations are primarily concerned with the financial contributions made by licence holders in the NWSDWTF. Licence holders must pay the specified levy when their licences are endorsed under the Fisheries Act 1952. This payment mechanism ensures that the management costs associated with the fishery are covered by those directly benefiting from it, aligning with the principles of cost recovery and equitable contribution established by the Act. The Act requires that these costs be transparently calculated and that the levy be uniformly applied to all relevant licence endorsements (section 4). Breaches of the provisions set out in the Fisheries Levy Act 1984 and the subsequent regulations could lead to various legal consequences. Although the specific penalties are not detailed in the explanatory statement, under the Fisheries Levy Act, non-compliance could result in civil penalties, which could include fines or other financial penalties. Additionally, persistent or significant breaches could potentially lead to criminal charges, depending on the severity and intent behind the non-compliance. The precise penalties would be governed by the broader legislative framework within which the Act operates, but they could potentially include substantial fines or imprisonment for serious offences (section 5).