The Business of Fishing: Queensland, Australia 1997-98

Commercial fishing in Queensland, Australia, involves a diversity of fishing activities such as trawl, line, net and crab. Due to a complex licensing arrangement (Licence Packages), most fishers are endorsed to operate in more than one fishery providing flexibility for commercial fishing operations. The aim of this paper is to document the economic performance of Queensland's fishing businesses based on a comprehensive survey. Business performance was analysed using the following economic indicators: receipts, costs, boat oper ating surplus, boat business profit, gross returns index, rate of return to capital and fishery rent. The analysis characterised fishing businesses based on scale of operation, type of fishery accessed, degree of specialisation and geographical location of fishing business base. Each group had differing levels of economic performance: at least half of the surveyed fleet were not covering all of their economic costs. Fishers were asked their view on a range of issues effecting their economic performance and were pessimistic about the viability of the fishing industry and their future.