EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 255
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Fisheries Management (Macquarie Island Toothfish Fishery) Regulations 2006
Subsection 168(1) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make Regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, in carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Subsection 45(1) of the Act states that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) must keep a Register of Statutory Fishing Rights, and must enter certain information in the Register for each statutory fishing right (SFR) that it grants, including such particulars as are prescribed. These particulars, as well as those prescribed under the Regulations, are generally considered essential standard public contact information necessary for regulatory purposes.
The Regulations prescribe the additional information that AFMA must enter in the Register in respect of the Macquarie Island Toothfish Fishery. For each SFR granted for that fishery, the owner’s contact and SFR information would be required. If the owner of the SFR is not the holder of the right, the holder’s contact and SFR information would be required. The Regulations also prescribe the meaning of ‘contact and SFR information’, and require the inclusion of maximum catch details, which are useful for commercial reasons (where other fishers seek to lease or transfer quota in order for them to operate in the fishery).
The Fishery
Fishing in the Macquarie Island Toothfish Fishery (MITF) is managed under the provisions of the Macquarie Island Toothfish Fishery Management Plan 2006 (the Plan) and associated instruments.
Macquarie Island falls under Tasmanian jurisdiction and is located outside the Antarctic convergence approximately 1500 kilometres south east of Hobart. The waters surrounding Macquarie Island out to 3 nautical miles are Tasmanian State waters and the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment controls fishing in these waters. State waters were closed to fishing and classified as a Nature Reserve under Tasmanian law in July 2000. Waters from the 3 nautical mile boundary out to the 200 nautical mile outer boundary of the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) are under Commonwealth jurisdiction and make up the waters of the MITF.
Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is the only target species in the MITF. Patagonian toothfish are also known as mero, Chilean sea bass and black hake and are found in sub-Antarctic waters on shelves around islands and submarine banks. They are primarily bottom living, in depths of 300 to 2000 metres, although move off the bottom on occasion to feed.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Regulation Review advised that a Regulation Impact Statement was not required (ID8523) as the Regulations are of a minor nature and do not substantially alter existing arrangements.
Consultation
The preparation of the Plan included full consultation with the Antarctic Advisory Committee (SouthMAC) and a statutory public consultation phase. AFMA received no comments concerning the issue from either consultation process of what types of details would be included in the Public Register for the fishery.
The Regulations implement the Plan. As full consultation was undertaken for the Plan, consultation on the Regulations was not required.
The Regulations will commence on the day after they were registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Details of the Regulations are set out below:
Regulation 1 provides for the Regulations to be cited as the Fisheries Management (Macquarie Island Toothfish Fishery) Regulations 2006.
Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations commence on the day after they are registered.
Regulation 3 provides that in these Regulations the term Act means the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and Management Plan means the Macquarie Island Toothfish Fishery Management Plan 2006. The terms fisheries, fishing year, holder, owner and statutory fishing right have the same meaning as that given in the Management Plan. The terms AFMA, Register and take have, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning as that given in the Act.
Regulation 4 provides a list of the specific details of owners and holders of SFRs that will be recorded in the register.
Subregulation 4(1) provides that contact and SFR information, in relation to a person, means: the name of the person; if the person is a company, the Australian Company Number; the person’s postal and email address, telephone and fax numbers; if the person holds a SFR, the number of rights; if the person holds a right but is not the owner of them, the number they hold, and the total weight in kilograms which may be taken each fishing year under the rights.
Subregulation 4(2) provides that for the purposes of s45(1)(f) of the Act, AFMA must enter in the Register, for each SFR granted for the fishery, the owner’s contact and SFR information. If the owner of the right is not the holder of the right, the holder’s contact and SFR information must be entered in the Register.
Subregulation 4(3) provides that AFMA may alter the Register to reflect a change in the owner or holder’s contact and SFR information.
Subregulation 4(4) provides that for the purposes of paragraph 4(1)(c), the postal, email address, and telephone and fax numbers of either an owner or holder of a SFR are the addresses and numbers most recently notified to AFMA by the owner or holder.