Allocation of fisheries management costs to Queensland’s commercial fisheries for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 financial years: The process of allocation

Abstract

In 2019, Fisheries Queensland engaged BDO EconSearch to complete a series of economic reports independently estimating the economic contributions made by Queensland’s commercial fisheries to the State. The economic and social indicator reports prepared by BDO EconSearch represent the first comprehensive economic assessment of Queensland’s commercial fisheries.

The economic analysis required the costs of managing each of the fisheries to be estimated and allocated to the respective sectors. This document explains how the fishery management costs were estimated and allocated to each fishery and their respective sectors in Queensland. These allocations were used by BDO EconSearch in the economic reports of commercial fisheries for the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years.

Fisheries Queensland welcomes stakeholder feedback on this topic and expects that it will lead to improvements in the future economic reports. The allocation of costs always has subjective elements. When revisiting this allocation in future years this initial position will serve as a starting point from which to progress.