Services and cost recovery

PIRSA is required to regulate commercial, recreational and Aboriginal Traditional fishing activities to:

• ensure sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture resources
• maximise returns to the South Australian community from their use.

Cost recovery policy

A cost recovery policy for commercial fishing is in place, operated by PIRSA. It works from the premise that South Australia’s aquatic resources are owned by the state and managed by PIRSA on behalf of the community.

Costs associated with government services, as a direct result of commercial access to the resources, are recovered from commercial licence holders through regulated licence fees. These services include, but are not limited to:

• fisheries management
• policy
• scientific monitoring and stock assessment
• compliance and licensing.

Further information about the cost recovery process and management:

• Australian Government cost recovery guidelines
• PIRSA Cost Recovery Policy ( DOCX 277.4 KB )
• Fisheries and Aquaculture Cost Recovery Framework ( PDF 225.6 KB ).

Cost recovery implementation statements

Each commercial fishery provides annual cost recovery implementation statements, available below.

Cost recovery reviews

To make sure the state’s public fisheries resources are managed in a sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective manner, a review process was established under the cost recovery policy. This is undertaken on a 5-year cycle to maintain best practice arrangements.

2023

We have undertaken an independent cost recovery review of the commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors.