Cost Recovery in Fisheries Management: The Australian Experience, Anthony Cox


Cost Recovery in Fisheries Management: The Australian Experience By Anthony Cox ABSTRACT Cost recovery has been a fundamental feature of the management of Australia's Commonwealth fisheries since the early 1990s. The general philosophy of the current Government policy is that the beneficiaries of Government services should meet the costs of those services in accordance with the concept of user pays. As a result, the commercial industry pays for costs directly related to fishing activity while the Government pays for activities that may benefit the broader community, as well as the industry. The purpose in this paper is twofold. First, the Australian experience with cost recovery will be reviewed. Particular emphasis is given to the extent of cost recovery in the various Commonwealth fisheries and the manner in which the cost recovery arrangements are determined for each fishery. Second, emerging policy pressures on the cost recovery system will be discussed. These issues include: the implications for cost recovery of an increasing policy emphasis on ecosystem management rather than a narrow focus on fisheries management; the split between private and public funding for research in fisheries and ecosystem management; and cost recovery for high seas fishing. KEYWORDS: cost recovery; fisheries management View The Costs of Fisheries Management Session View Full Paper (PDF file)

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