Equity and fairness for recreational fishers
The cornerstone of the Government’s recently announced budget was predictable; it boosts expenditure on social security and welfare benefits, along with health, education and Maori housing. These are notable priorities for a Government that prides itself on equity, fairness and improved governance.
Fish Mainland recommends the Government could be political ground-breakers in fisheries if it would address a major inequity and lack of fairness for recreational fishers. At the same time, it would improve governance for the sector.
This recommendation involves another budget winner, further boosts in infrastructure investment, particularly road infrastructure that is generally funded through fuel taxes. Petrol excise duty is tax revenue that covers road construction, maintenance and related services. But, because the same petrol used for cars is also used for recreational boats, petrol used in boats is taxed as though it were being used on roads.
There is no feasible system for either exempting petrol used in boats from excise duty or refunding the excise duty collected from recreational boat users. It is also not feasible to determine the precise amount of annual petrol excise duty paid by those who operate petrol-powered recreational boats.
In 2009, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research estimated the annual petrol excise duty collected from recreational boating at around $25 million, though a more realistic estimate of $61 million was made based on boating survey results and industry experts.
The current annual petrol excise duty paid by recreational boat users is expected to be significantly higher, likely exceeding $100 million, given the subsequent increases in the duty and the increasing number of recreational boats, which has more than doubled since 2009.
In addition to petrol excise duty paid by recreational boat users subsidising road projects, under section 9(1) of the Land Transport Management Act 2003, the Minister of Transport and Minister of Finance can fund the following activities and services from that same duty for:
• search and rescue activities, whether in relation to pleasure craft or otherwise;
• recreational boating safety and safety awareness;
• maritime safety services that benefit the users of pleasure craft; and
• administration by the Secretary in relation to the activities and services described above.
Payments made under section 9(1) of the Land Transport Management Act 2003 go to Maritime New Zealand, with most going towards search and rescue services on land and sea.
Since recreational fishers already contribute substantially through petrol excise duty, then it would be equitable and fair to add recreational fisheries management activities to the purposes listed under section 9(1) of the Land Transport Management Act 2003.
Funding recreational fisheries management activities from petrol excise duty already collected from recreational boat users makes more sense than either putting that collected excise duty into road projects or funding recreational fisheries management from general tax revenues.
Fish Mainland continues to recommend the Government consider an amendment to the Land Transport Management Act 2003 to allow for payment under section 9(1) to fund recreational fisheries management activities. These activities could include broad representation to Government and the other fishing sectors, education, and projects and research that align with the priorities of the recreational fishing sector.
We would appreciate receiving fishers’ feedback on this article. It is adapted from the report titled The Future Catch published in 2017 by The New Zealand Initiative nzinitiative. org.nz
This article is also available on The Fishing Paper, June 2021, issue 189. View original paper
