Mud crab fisherman Dean Elliott has lost his case against the New South Wales Government in a David and Goliath battle over reforms in the fishing industry.
Mr Elliott, a commercial fisherman on the state's mid-north coast, claimed the reforms were "unreasonable" and "capricious" and had left him without an occupation, and facing a loss of up to half a million dollars.
But Justice Stephen Rothman dismissed the case in the NSW Supreme Court today, saying the Government's actions were in accordance with the law, and ordered Mr Elliott to pay the Government's costs.
Mr Elliott said he was devastated by the decision.
He has seven days to consider an appeal, and an injunction preventing the rollout of the Government's Commercial Fisheries Business Adjustment Program will continue until then.
Scheme may be unfair, justice says
Commercial fishermen have been struggling with various reforms for years, but critical changes came into effect last year that will force many of them out of the industry.
The changes included a redistribution of catch history to "latent" fishermen, a cutback in the quota they could catch and the number of days they could fish, and the introduction of minimum shareholdings.
The Government said the changes would help fishermen become more viable and protect the resource.
It supported them through the reform process with a $16 million subsidy package to help them buy the shares or exit the industry with dignity.
But Mr Elliott argued the process lacked transparency and left many with large debts or without the minimum shareholdings they needed to continue.
Justice Rothman agreed that the process "certainly imposes an impost on commercial fishing operations merely to continue operating as they have been [and] that, in this circumstance, may render the scheme unfair, but not unreasonable, capricious or an abuse."
