EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1988 NO. 81
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy
FISHERIES ACT 1952
FISHERIES REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Paragraph 17(1)(a) of the Fisheries Act 1952 empowers the Governor-General to make regulations prescribing penalties for offences against the regulations.
Regulation 15A requires a person who receives or transfers gemfish for processing to furnish, to the Commonwealth, a weekly return which includes certain prescribed categories of information.
The proposed regulation amends regulation 15A by imposing a penalty for non-compliance with that regulation. The maximum penalty is $2,000 for a natural person and $10,000 for a body corporate.
The principal purpose of the regulation is to deter processors from understating catch receipts and transfers which in turn would have detrimental effects on stocks of gemfish in the South Eastern Trawl Fishery.
The proposed regulations will come into effect on notification in the Gazette.