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Business Exit Assistance
About the Business Exit Assistance
The Australian Government allocated $150 million for a one-off, voluntary tender process to allow individual fishing businesses to exit from the industry or rationalise their business and remain in the industry. Two rounds of a competitive tender process were undertaken within a capped budget with the aim of reducing excess fishing in fisheries that are subject to overfishing or at significant risk of overfishing.Business Exit Assistance was delivered through two competitive tenders. The first tender round closed on 22 June 2006, and an announcement of the outcomes was made on 15 September 2006. The second round opened on Thursday 19 October 2006 and closed on the 23 November 2006. The results of the second round were announced on 22 December 2006. Note: Media releases and speeches by former Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries can be located at: Pandora - Australia's Web Archive
Concession holders in all Commonwealth-managed fisheries (except internationally managed and Joint Authority fisheries) were eligible to tender for Business Exit Assistance.
To respect the privacy of fishers, the Australian Government is unable to provide precise details of the concessions purchased in the buyback process. The concessions surrendered from Commonwealth fisheries is provided in respect to each tender round below. An overview of the regions of Australia impacted by both rounds Business Exit Assistance has also been made available - Regional Results
PDF [31kb].
First Round
The first tender round closed on 22 June 2006 and an announcement of the outcomes was made on 15 September 2006. The first round of Business Exit Assistance spent around $90 million purchasing over 400 fishing concessions from many Commonwealth fisheries. In two of the four targeted fisheries - the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (excluding the Great Australian Bight Fishery) and the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery - the Department achieved a very satisfying result. Unfortunately very few offers from the Northern Prawn Fishery and the Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery were accepted.First Round Results
PDF [32kb]
Second Round
The second round tender was open to all Commonwealth concession holders, with the exception of internationally managed fisheries and Joint Authority fisheries. The second round tender specifically targeted the NPF and the BSCZSF, but sought value for money within fisheries and across other Commonwealth fisheries. Close to 150 concessions were purchased following this round, the NPF will realise a one third reduction in concessions, while the BSCZSF reduction will be closer to 14 per cent. Approximately $60 million was spent in the second round tender process.Second Round Results
PDF [29kb]
Last reviewed: 25 Jan 2008
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