South Australian Consolidated Regulations South Australian Consolidated Regulations16—Individual cockle catch quota system
(1) In this
regulation—
"cockle quota entitlement" or "quota entitlement", in relation to a licence in
respect of a marine scalefish fishery or an eligible
rock lobster fishery licence and a cockle fishing zone, means the maximum
number of kilograms of cockles that may be lawfully taken by the holder of the
licence in that zone during a quota period, being the product of—
(a) the
unit entitlement under that licence in respect of that zone; and
(b) the
unit value for that zone and quota period,
subject to any variation applying during that quota period;
"eligible marine scalefish fishery licence" means a licence in respect of a
marine scalefish fishery held on the commencement of this regulation by a
person who lawfully took cockles under the licence in a cockle fishing zone
during the period that commenced on 1 January 1997 and ended on
30 June 2006 (as recorded on completed returns lodged under the
relevant regulations);
"eligible rock lobster fishery licence" means a licence in respect of the
Northern Zone Rock Lobster Fishery under which the holder may lawfully take
aquatic resources specified in Schedule 1 of the Fisheries Management (Rock
Lobster Fisheries) Regulations 2006 ;
"relevant regulations" means the Fisheries (Scheme of Management—Marine
Scalefish Fisheries) Regulations 1991 or these regulations (as the case
requires);
"unit entitlement" means the number of cockle units for the time being
allocated to a licence;
"unit value" means the number of kilograms of cockles determined by the
Minister to be the value of a cockle unit for a cockle fishing zone and a
quota period.
(2) In this
regulation, a reference to a "quota period" is a reference to—
(a) the
period commencing on the day on which this regulation comes into operation and
ending on 30 June 2009; or
(b) a
period of 12 months commencing on 1 July 2009 or 1 July in any subsequent
year.
(3) The Minister must
determine the number of kilograms of cockles that is to be the value of a
cockle unit for a cockle fishing zone and a quota period.
(4) The Minister may
impose conditions on eligible marine scalefish fishery licences fixing
cockle quota entitlements as follows:
(a) the
Minister must determine the total number of cockle units to be allocated in
respect of each cockle fishing zone;
(b) each
licence may be allocated a share of the total number of cockle units in
respect of a cockle fishing zone, being—
(i)
a number of cockle units equal to 0.5% of the total
number of cockle units to be allocated in respect of that zone; and
(ii)
if, during the period that commenced on
1 July 2001 and ended on 30 June 2006, cockles were
lawfully taken in that zone under a licence by the person who holds the
licence on the commencement of this regulation, additional cockle units based
on the total number of kilograms of cockles taken by the person in that zone
during that period proportionate to the total number of kilograms taken under
all eligible marine scalefish fishery licences and
eligible rock lobster fishery licences in that zone during that period (as
recorded on completed returns lodged under the relevant regulations).
(5) The Minister may
impose or vary conditions of licences in respect of a marine scalefish fishery
or eligible rock lobster fishery licences fixing cockle quota entitlements as
follows:
(a) on
joint application made to the Minister by the holders of any 2 licences in
respect of a marine scalefish fishery subject to a condition fixing a
cockle quota entitlement in respect of the same cockle fishing zone, the
conditions of the licences may be varied so as to increase the
unit entitlement under 1 of the licences in respect of that zone and
decrease the unit entitlement under the other licence in respect of that zone
by a corresponding number of units;
(b) on
joint application made to the Minister by the holder of a licence in respect
of a marine scalefish fishery subject to a condition fixing a cockle
quota entitlement in respect of a particular cockle fishing zone and the
holder of an eligible rock lobster fishery licence subject to a condition
fixing a cockle quota entitlement in respect of that zone, the conditions of
the licences may be varied so as to increase the unit entitlement under 1
of the licences in respect of that zone and decrease the unit entitlement
under the other licence in respect of that zone by a corresponding number of
units;
(c) on
joint application made to the Minister by the holder of a licence in respect
of a marine scalefish fishery subject to a condition fixing a cockle quota
entitlement in respect of a particular cockle fishing zone (the "first licence
) and the holder of a licence in respect of a marine scalefish fishery not
subject to a condition fixing a cockle quota entitlement in respect
of that zone (the "second licence")—
(i)
the conditions of the first licence may be varied so as
to decrease the unit entitlement under that licence in respect of that zone;
and
(ii)
a corresponding number of units may be allocated to the
second licence and a condition fixing a cockle quota entitlement in respect of
that zone may be imposed on that licence;
(d) on
joint application made to the Minister by the holder of a licence in respect
of a marine scalefish fishery subject to a condition fixing a cockle
quota entitlement in respect of a particular cockle fishing zone (the
"first licence") and the holder of an eligible rock lobster fishery licence
not subject to a condition fixing a cockle quota entitlement in respect
of that zone (the "second licence")—
(i)
the conditions of the first licence may be varied so as
to decrease the unit entitlement under that licence in respect of that zone;
and
(ii)
a corresponding number of units may be allocated to the
second licence and a condition fixing a cockle quota entitlement in respect of
that zone may be imposed on that licence;
(e) if
the total catch of cockles taken during a quota period by the holder of a
licence in respect of a marine scalefish fishery subject to a condition fixing
a cockle quota entitlement exceeded the cockle quota entitlement under the
licence for that quota period, the conditions of the licence may be varied so
as to decrease the cockle quota entitlement—
(i)
if the catch exceeded the quota entitlement by not more
than 50 kilograms—by 1 kilogram for each kilogram taken in excess
of the quota entitlement; or
(ii)
if the catch exceeded the quota entitlement by more than
50 kilograms but not more than 250 kilograms—by
2 kilograms for each kilogram taken in excess of the quota entitlement;
(f)
if—
(i)
the holder of a licence in respect of a
marine scalefish fishery is convicted of an offence of contravening a
condition of the licence fixing a cockle quota entitlement; and
(ii)
the conduct constituting the offence involved the taking
of more than 250 kilograms of cockles in excess of the cockle quota
entitlement,
the conditions of the licence may be varied so as to decrease the cockle
quota entitlement under the licence for 3 quota periods following the
conviction by 1 kilogram for each kilogram taken in excess of the
quota entitlement for the quota period during which the offence was committed;
(g)
if—
(i)
the holder of a licence in respect of a
marine scalefish fishery licence subject to a condition fixing a
cockle quota entitlement has assisted in the carrying out of research work
under the Act in relation to the fishery; and
(ii)
the Minister considers that it is appropriate to
compensate or reward the holder of the licence for the time spent in providing
that assistance,
the conditions of the licence may be varied so as to increase the cockle
quota entitlement under the licence.
(6) If a variation of
a unit entitlement is to have effect only for the balance of the quota period
during which the variation is made, the variation must be expressed to have
such effect.
(7) An application to
vary unit entitlements must—
(a) be
made in a manner and form approved by the Minister; and
(b) be
signed by the applicants and completed in accordance with the instructions
contained in the form; and
(c) be
accompanied by the appropriate fee fixed in the Fisheries Management (Fees)
Regulations 2007 .
(8) If a licence in
respect of a marine scalefish fishery subject to a condition fixing a
cockle quota entitlement is transferred to the holder of another such licence
and 1 of those licences is surrendered, the conditions of the remaining
licence may be varied so as to increase the unit entitlement under that
licence by the number of cockle units allocated to the surrendered licence
immediately before its surrender.
(9) Subject to
subregulations (10) and (11), the holder of a licence in respect of a
marine scalefish fishery must not take cockles for a commercial purpose in a
cockle fishing zone unless the licence is subject to a condition fixing a
cockle quota entitlement in respect of that zone.
Maximum penalty: $5 000.
(10) The holder of a
licence in respect of a marine scalefish fishery subject to a condition fixing
a cockle quota entitlement in respect of a cockle fishing zone may take
cockles in another cockle fishing zone if—
(a) the
holder of the licence is unable to lawfully take cockles in the
cockle fishing zone to which the condition relates because—
(i)
as a result of a variation in the conditions of the
licence under subregulation (5), the number of cockle units allocated to
the licence for the time being is zero; or
(ii)
the total number of kilograms of cockles taken under the
licence in that zone equals the quota entitlement under the licence in respect
of that zone; and
(b) the
cockles are taken solely for the purpose of bait to be used to take aquatic
resources under the licence; and
(c) the
number of cockles taken for that purpose on any 1 day does not exceed the
number fixed by condition of the licence as the maximum number of cockles that
may be taken in any 1 day for that purpose.
(11) The holder of a
licence in respect of a marine scalefish fishery that is not subject to a
condition fixing a cockle quota entitlement may take cockles in a
cockle fishing zone if—
(a) the
cockles are taken solely for the purpose of bait to be used to take aquatic
resources under the licence; and
(b) the
number of cockles taken for that purpose on any 1 day does not exceed the
number fixed by condition of the licence as the maximum number of cockles that
may be taken in any 1 day for that purpose.