2019-07-18 OM Agenda - Item 1 - Attachment 1 - Noosa Fishing Futures

Table 1
           SYMBOL         NUMBER of                                  AUTHORITY
                           SYMBOLS
      N1                86                  The East Coast of Queensland. Can access Noosa waterways
                                            from 1 January to 31 December.
      N11               281                 The East Coast of Queensland and tidal waters in the Gulf of
                                            Carpentaria. Can access Noosa waterways from 1 January to
                                            31 December.
      K8                12                  The fishery area consists of the area of all tidal waters;
                                                1. from the eastern tip of Noosa Heads along the shore
                                                    to the eastern tip of Inskip Point; and,
                                                2. then to the southern tip of Fraser Island; and,
                                                3. then along Fraser Island’s eastern shore to the
                                                    island’s northern tip; and,
                                                4. the shore of Breaksea Spit.
                                            Access is between 1st April to 31st August.

There are numerous Queensland based brokers to the commercial fishing industry who typically advertise
their offering as brokers for the sale, purchase and leasing of commercial fishing licences, symbols, quota and
commercial fishing boats. All have websites that list the licenses and symbols for sale or lease at current market
rates. Five commercial brokers were examined to seek information on the availability and current market price
for a primary license, and an N1, N11, K8 and T5 symbol. All values listed are a guide only and should be taken
to represent the price only at the time of inquiry (February 2019). There are a number of factors that will impact
on the market price for licenses and symbols including a formal investment warning when issued by Fisheries
Queensland however this in itself has not historically been seen as preventing continued activity in the buying,
selling and leasing of licenses and symbols. Feedback from FQ suggests some of the current prices are broadly
the same as prices achieved during the recent buy back scheme. The following license and symbols listings are
taken from those sites that had the relevant symbols listed:

      BROKER                         SYMBOL/LICENSE               PRICE               BUY OR LEASE
      Qld Fishing Brokerage          N1                           $55,000             To Buy
      Saltwater Solutions            N1 & L3 (1)                  $68,000             To Buy
      Seavine Marine                 None listed
      Pro Fishing Queensland         N1, N11, L1 & L3             $9,000              To Lease for 12
                                                                                      Months
      Bay & Ocean Commercial         N1                           $55,000             To Buy
      Fishing Brokerage
      As Above                       N1                           $60,000             To Buy
      As Above                       Primary License              $17,500             To Buy
      Bay & Ocean Commercial         T5 symbol only               $25,000             To Buy
      Fishing Brokerage

Sectoral Analysis of Economic Value

Local N1 net fishers note their principal species caught in the rivers and lakes is mullet and they supply mostly
local and regional markets for human consumption as well as some local bait and tackle outlets. Prices
achieved for mullet between April and August are depressed due to the large volume of mullet harvested from
the K8 ocean beach fishery and on average achieve $4/kg for male and females. Outside of the K8 season they
achieve significantly higher prices of up to $9/kg. Information sourced from conversations with local seafood
retail outlets and commercial fishers indicates production from the Noosa area results in a small percentage of
locally caught seafood being sold for human consumption in some local retail outlets. This information is
reflected in the Stakeholder Analysis. For the K8 ocean beach fishery a fair proportion of the mullet that is
processed by the two major processors, Markwell Fisheries or SupaFin Seafoods, and comes back to the local
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