Explanation of your levies

2019-20

How do I know what my levies will be?

You will have recently received a licence renewal notice that includes the levies for your commercial licence for 2019/20.

Levies

Management – covers operational policy and management services for each of Victoria's commercial fishing licence classes, including services for setting of quota and harvest limits in quota fisheries.

Compliance – covers inspection services provided by Fisheries Officers, including preparation and travel required to undertake inspections.

Research – covers data collection and analysis services required to monitor and assess fish stocks.

Administration – covers catch and effort recording services, support for app-based services for licences not subject to transaction fees, and industry participation on the Fisheries Cost Recovery Standing Committee.

FRDC Levy – the Victorian Government collects a levy that goes to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) on behalf of all commercial fishing licence holders in Victoria, including aquaculture. The amount collected is set through the Fisheries (Fees, Royalties and Levies) Regulations 2008 at 0.25% of the Gross Value of Production (GVP) of each licence class (averaged over the preceding 3 years). GVP is the gross weight of fish harvested per annum multiplied by the average price per kg of the fish.

Grants levy – a grants levy is collected on behalf of all wild-catch commercial licence classes and fish receivers for representation by Seafood Industry Victoria (SIV).  The monies collected by the Department are subsequently disbursed in their entirety through a Ministerial grant to SIV.

Adjustments

As part of the new cost recovery system, consultation is used to discuss cost recovered services and levies. An important part of these discussions is finding ways to improve the efficiency of services described in the service schedule for each licence class and also to ensure that levies properly reflect the services delivered. An annual process of review and adjustment is overseen by the Fisheries Cost Recovery Standing Committee and is used for determining changes to the Fishery Service levies set in the Fisheries (Fees, Royalties and Levies) Regulations (the Regulations).

Where an ongoing change to a levy is required, this is made through the Regulations and is referred to as an adjustment. Where a change is temporary or partial, for example for only one year or for part of a service, the change is provided through a refund (as an offset) or waiver.

The Fisheries (Fees, Royalties and Levies) Regulations 2008 sunsetted at the end of January 2018 and were re-made in 2017 to take effect from that time. The cost recovery levies set in the 2017 Regulations were amended in February 2019 and your licence renewal notice reflects those amendments.

The amended regulations can be viewed at http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/ under Victorian Statute Book > Statutory Rules by Title > 2019 > Fisheries (Fees, Royalties and Levies) Amendment Regulations 2019.

Adjustments apply from 1 April for that year and apply to all of the licences held within a licence class except for Rock Lobster, Giant Crab and Sea Urchin who renew at 1 July. Waivers may be identified throughout the year and notification is provided to affected licence holders.

Offsets

For 2019/20, offsets have been provided to levies where services were not fully delivered according to the service schedule for that licence class. Five licence classes will receive an offset for Compliance Services in 2019-20.

A summary of offsets for each licence class for 2019/20 is provided below:

Table 1. Offsets per licence for waivers and reductions to be applied to commercial levies for 2019/20 licensing year under Regulation 23B.

*denotes the amount to be offset, or waived, per licence/quota for a Fishery Service.

Concessions

A number of concessions were provided by the Minister prior to the new, forward looking cost recovery system commencing on 1 April 2014. A summary of the concessions can be found at Fisheries Cost Recovery 2018.

The small operator concession is assessed on an annual basis. The licence classes eligible for this concession for 2019-20 under the new cost recovery system are listed below, along with those from the previous two years:

Abalone royalties and grants levies

Grants levies

In addition to the grants levy for representation by SIV, a grants levy is collected on behalf of abalone western and central zone licence classes, with the monies disbursed through a Ministerial grant to Western Zone Abalone Association (WADA) and Abalone Victoria Central Zone (AVCZ), respectively.

Royalties

Royalties apply to abalone quota units only.

Royalties vary from year to year dependent upon the gross value of production (GVP) for the fishery in the given year. For each of the 3 abalone licence classes, the sum of the levies for Fishery Services, FRDC levy and Royalties will total 7.2% of GVP. Therefore as the levy for Fishery Services decreases, the Royalties increase and vice versa. This provides a cap on the amount paid by abalone licence holders and the services delivered to these licence classes.

What next?

The cost recovery system operates on an annual basis. Following the issue of licences, Fishery Services are delivered and reported on twice per year. Service delivery is assessed around August to October each year and, if under-delivery has occurred, offsets and adjustments are calculated. When issues arise in a fishery and additional services are required, this is also assessed and may lead to additional levies being established for the following year. However, no further levying will occur until the next licensing year.

The Fisheries Cost Recovery Standing Committee (FCRSC) oversees the implementation of the fisheries cost recovery system and meets up to four times per year. Their role is to advise the Minister on cost recovery matters across all fisheries at a strategic level.

Consultation with individual licence classes can occur at any point during the year so that adjustment to services and the associated costs can be established for the following licensing year.

To see the Fishery Services provided to your fishery, please visit Fishery Specific Service Schedules.

To see the latest report on services delivered to your fishery, please visit Cost Recovery Reporting.

To see what matters have been considered by Fisheries Cost Recovery Standing Committee (FCRSC), please visit the FCRSC main page.

Contact details by fishery