R&D News

  Volume 12, Edition 3

ED's editorial

Good job, done better

HERE’S a boring phrase – corporate governance. Boring yes, but it describes a very important FRDC function – how we manage your investment in R&D.

So how do we do it, how well -and how the experts judge our performance?

For a start, we work under an ISO-certified quality management system that requires us to continually monitor and improve our performance and helps us hold overhead costs at less than eight per cent of total budget.

The challenge, of course, is to keep costs down without compromising the quality of governance.

Our success in meeting this challenge is measured by independent audit, in which we continue to do well - an independent quality auditor recently said of us “Your quality management system is on a par with the best I have audited.”

And for the past six years we have fared very well in competition with hundreds of other organisations in the way we report our management activities.

In the Institute of Public Administration Australia’s 2003 reporting awards the judges observed that public organisations had staff numbers ranging from 10 (that’s us) to 35,000. They concluded that “some of the smaller organisations, which presumably are not able to devote substantial resources to the task, have produced reports that more than match, in quality and content, those produced by much larger bodies.” In this context ours was considered “a very good annual report that covers some complex operational activities in language that is comprehensible to the lay reader … and (includes) very good performance reporting”.We were again placed in the gold award category.

A second yardstick is a competition involving hundreds of private and public sector entities, run by Australasian Reporting Awards Inc (ARA). This year the quality of reports led ARA to observe that higher standards of governance are becoming recognised as imperative. Against stiff competition we won the top corporate governance reporting award among federal, state and local government agencies -after two years on the short list.

That’s constant improvement -and it reflects more than good annual reporting. AsWayne Cameron, theVictorian Auditor-General, said in his letter of congratulation: “I know that often times achievements such as these are symptomatic of other good practices that exist in winning organisations.”

I hope that if you participate in any of FRDC’s stakeholder organisations, such as the Fisheries Research Advisory Bodies, you will share our feeling of pride -because our performance in governance reflects, in large measure, the quality of advice we have taken from you and the transparency that marks our partnerships with industry.

Peter Dundas-Smith Executive Director FRDC Phone 02 6285 0400

FRDC's leader steps down

FRDC’s inaugural Executive Director Peter Dundas-Smith is to leave the Corporation at the end of this year after 12 years at the helm.

Announcing this, FRDC Chairman Denis Byrne said Peter Dundas-Smith would be remembered for his strong leadership in bringing the diverse and fragmented interests of the fishing industry together in a shared 20-year vision of future directions.

“Through his skill, FRDC has become crucially involved in industry development and greatly improved environmental management.

“The infrastructure through which this has been achieved such as Seafood Services Australia Ltd, the company dedicated to sustainable development of the seafood industry will be one of Peter’s lasting legacies.

“Another is a spirit of confidence and cooperation that has helped put the commercial and recreational sectors at the forefront of good environmental management.”

“I’m sure, though, that the qualities people will miss most are his integrity and fearless determination to tell it like it is.

They are highly valued in an industry of robust, no-nonsense men and women,” Denis Byrne said.

FRDC is to make an international search for successor.

Budget promises

FEDERAL Budget funding of $3.7m ASIC has also endorsed the Budget’s For the Southern Ocean it has to minimise further incursions by exotic additional $1m to develop marketing welcomed the promise of $89m over marine pests is another step towards an strategies for aquaculture products and the next two €nancial years to fund effective quarantine system for Austra-$3m allocated directly to the Australian surveillance and armed patrols against lian waters, says the Australian Seafood Fisheries Management Authority to re-illegal €shing. Industry Council. duce illegal €shing in northern waters. MORE: Russ Neal ph 0412 108 616.

FRDC names 05-06 priorities

The FRDC Board has identi€ed what it describes as issues of national importance that should be ad- dressed in the 2005-06 R&D funding round. These are:

Resources sustainability

Develop options for managing recreational fishing, taking into account findings of the October 2002 recreational property rights workshop and the need to be able to measure recreational fishing effort at national and regional levels

Research development of customary fishing by indigenous Australians and progressively measure customary effort at national and regional levels

Develop policy and strategies to address non-compliance and organised crime.

Industry development Aquaculture — a substantial FRDC investment will significantly help aqua-culture’s attempt to achieve an annual gross value of production of $2.5 billion by 2010. Key challenges are being addressed through the Australian Gov-ernment’s Aquaculture Action Agenda, but more emphasis is needed on prospects such as inland saline aquaculture to reduce Australia’s forecast seafood production deficit, which is likely to be 80,000t by 2020. FRDC, the National Aquaculture Council, the Aquaculture Action Agenda Implementation Committee and some State agencies regard a national approach to such planning and development as essential. Best practice in hatchery management needs to be identified and implemented too.

Other sectors — Seafood Services Australia Limited has invested heavily in wild-catch and post-harvest developments. The National Food Industry Strategy, funded by the Australian Government, has financed the National Seafood Export Strategy in collaboration with theWestern Australian Department of Fisheries and SSA. Together, these investments are addressing food safety, quality, product development, OH&S and trade development. In the interests of fisheries sustainability and better use of protein, recovery of fish wasted in the production process is also being emphasised, especially through retention of bycatch and discards and through marketing matters relating to production costs and market prices.

People development FRDC has steadily invested in improving industry leadership during the past decade through the Australian Rural Leadership Program and more recently the Advance in Seafood Leadership Development Program. However these programs do not develop industry leaders for the commercial, recreational and customary sectors in sufficient numbers to meet future needs. As a result the Board is encouraging augmentation of these programs with a work placement scheme that would give future industry and agency leaders experience in other facets of seafood production. The FRDC Board identified these needs in an annual gap analysis of its R&D portfolio and has passed them on to the FRABs. In doing so it made clear that FRDC does not seek to determine R&D priorities at State, regionalor fishery level, describing that as task for the FRABs, FRDC Subprogram personnel and other stakeholding experts.

MORE: Peter Dundas-Smith, phone 02 6285 0400.

Fish a don’t drop dead diet?

SWITCHING to a fish-rich diet not only reduces the risk of heart disease, but could decrease the chance of sudden death by up to 40 per cent, according to Kerin O’Dea, Director of the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin.

She told a New Zealand Seafood Week conference in Christchurch that recent monitoring of 8000 men who had had a heart attack — making them eight times more likely to have a second — found that those who increased their intake of fish had a 29 per cent reduction in all-cause mortality over the two-year study. A bigger study of 11,323 Italian men and women found that those given fish oil on a regular basis had been 40 per cent less likely to die during the course of the study than those who did not eat the oil. Kerin O’Dea said because modern western diets contained a lot of processed food, intensively-farmed meat and saturated fat, westerners were not getting as much polyunsaturated fat as ’Omega 3 fatty acids ... not only reduced the likelihood of heart disease, but also decreased the chances of sudden death’ their ancestors and were suffering ill health because of it. The polyunsaturated Omega 3 fatty acids contained in all types of fish not only reduced the likelihood of heart disease, but also decreased the chances of sudden death in regular eaters. Omega 3 was also important for brain, tissue, vision and mental development in foetuses and infants. She identified the best Omega 3 sources as seafood, animal brains and offal, the Christchurch Press reported.

Oz lobster rock Europe

SOUTHERN rock lobster medallions from Australia have won two major prizes at the European Seafood Exposition, the world’s premier seafood showcase.

Success for South Australian company Ferguson Australia, for their ready-to-cook rock lobster medallions, in the Prix d’Elite New Products competition. A judging panel of international buyers, chefs and food writers gave them both the food service award and the special health and nutrition award ahead of entries from around the globe. The medallions, aimed at the premium food service market, are presented to be served with the shell. “We cut them from southern rock lobster tails using technology that slices the meat and shell cleanly, leaving no shell fragments in the meat,” said Managing Director Andrew Ferguson. This value-adding initiative is by FRDC poject 2003/242 under the umbrella of the Corporation’s Rock Lobster Postharvest Subprogram, The judges said the exceptional quality of the lobster and Ferguson’s new technology had resulted in a novel and exciting product. They also noted the quality of the packaging and the information it provided about the product and the company. Andrew Ferguson said the awards confirmed the family company’s belief that it had combined quality and innovation to deliver an outstanding value-added product and would create benefits across three States. Southern rock lobster generates $500m annually and employs more than 3000 people in South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, according to the Southern Rock Lobster Council. “This achievement will highlight the quality of Australia’s southern rock lobster and heighten its recognition throughout the world,” Andrew Ferguson said. The awards for value-adding come at a time when Australia’s rock lobster fisheries, overwhelmingly reliant on exports of live fish, have yet to recover from a severe market downturn attributed to SARS, unfavourable currency exchange rates and an international tourism decline sparked by the Iraq war and a rise in global terrorism. MORE: Kate Ferguson, phone 08 8346 8764; email kate@fergusonaustralia. com; www.fergusonaustralia.com, www.euroseafood.com.

The Catchlog catches on

AN electronic logbook program developed by a Cairns prawn fisherman has been approved by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and the Queensland Fisheries Service and is now being distributed and installed by Taylor Marine.

AFMA has approved Dieter (Danny) Bohm’s Catchlog for the collection and transfer of catch and effort data from the Gulf and Torres Strait banana prawn fishery this year. “It’s cutting edge technology. We’ve worked closely with Mr Bohm to make sure it meets our requirements and we’re confident electronic reporting will extend to other fisheries,” said AFMA’s John Garvey. “With programs like Catchlog developed here, Australia could become a world leader in electronic reporting,” he said. Queensland has endorsed the program for similar trials in its east coast fisheries, where it will run alongside an earlier program developed jointly by a software company and the QFS. Results from the earlier program have been mixed and QFS Senior Technical Officer Martin Hicks has welcomed Catchlog, saying it appears to have the potential to meet the service’s electronic data transfer requirements. Danny Bohm describes his program as a logbook and vessel management system, developed by a fisherman for fishermen, that delivers benefits to all parties. “Managers get regular, reliable, legible data in the required format. Operators and shore companies get comprehensive and accurate reports on all operational aspects to help them manage their boats and market their catch. “Record-keeping is improved. A lot of paperwork is eliminated,” he said. “Our next step is to work with other Australian fisheries to deliver versions specific to each, through our company B&D Computer Solutions. “Overseas companies are interested too and we’ll explore export opportunities later this year in conjunction with Austrade and the Queensland government.” MORE: B&D Computer Solutions, phone 07 4033 1322; email admin@catchlog.com; www.catchlog.com. Taylor Marine, Fremantle, phone 08 9431 9500; email admin@taylormarine.com.au.

R&D to create and sustain

RESOURCE innovation, natural advantages and ecological sustainability figure strongly in new projects funded by FRDC this financial year. A full list appears elsewhere in this issue. Here’s a sample:

Using salinity

Groundwater salinity has an upside: this project seeks to showcase its potential as an aquaculture resource by setting up inland demonstration farms in three, possibly four, States. Saline water will be drawn from interception schemes in the New South Wales and possibly South Australian sections of the Murray-Darling basin, from surface supplies in Western Australia and from saline bores in Queensland. The aim is to produce leading edge information that will spark innovation nation-wide. Queensland already is showing how, growing commercial prawns in lined ponds using and reusing saline water without waste, thanks to Australian-designed high technology recirculation systems. Forty-two per cent of this project’s $617,000 budget comes from the National Aquaculture Industry Action Agenda. 2004/241 Coordination of inland saline aquaculture R&D. Principal Investigator Geoff Allan, NSW Fisheries, phone 02 4982 1232.

Catch and release

The FRDC-recreational sector initiative to increase the survival of fish caught and released goes up a gear in this second phase of a national strategy in which FRDC has already invested $1.9m through seven projects. This, the eighth, will make sure the knowledge gained in Western Australia, Tasmania, Queensland and Victoria from the previous research on the sur vival characteristics of nationally-impor tant recreational species will be well-communicated to the fishers on the wharves and out in the tinnies. 2004/070 National strategy for the survival of released line-caught fish: planning, management and communications phase 2. Principal Investigator Bill Sawynok, Infofish Services, phone 07 4928 6133.

Beyond fishmeal

Can Australian grain replace fishmeal as the global aquafeed of the future? This major collaboration aims to deliver the answer for both crustaceans and finfish, using prawns and Atlantic salmon as its lab rats. Success would allow Australia’s low cost grain producers to develop and grow specific aquaculture grains for local and export markets, potentially on a massive scale. It would also leave in the marine food chain a lot of fish that otherwise will be ground up as aquaculture’s primary protein. The collaborators: FRDC, the Grains Research and Development Corporation, the CSIRO, Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, Western Australian Department of Fisheries. 2004236 Aquaculture Nutrition Subprogram: evaluation of value-added grain protein products for Atlantic salmon and black tiger prawns. Principal Investigator Brett Glencross, University of WA, phone 08 9246 8444.

Melbourne revealed

Sydney and Perth have had their seafood consumption habits probed in previous FRDC market intelligence projects. Now it’s the turn of flake-fancying Melbourne. Where do Melburnians buy their fish, what are the key products, the growth markets - what informs their choice? Have they turned their back on unprocessed fish, demanding easy-toprepare meal solutions? Or is seafood something they seek only when dining out? Watch this space. 2004/249 Retail sale and consumption of seafood in Melbourne. Principal Investigator Nick Ruello, Ruello and Associates Pty Ltd.

Maximising abalone

Abalone along South Australia’s Limestone Coast are harvested at sub-optimal levels because their growth rates vary, they reproduce at differing sizes and their shapes are not uniform. This project will attempt to significantly increase the sustainable catch by showing that a visual assessment of shape can be used to differentiate the harvestable status of individual abalone - and ensure that, under an increased legal take, compliance remains effective and efficient. 2004/019 Optimising the spatial scale of abalone fishery management. Principal Investigator Stephen Mayfield, SA Research and Development Institute, phone 08 8200 2400.

NT accountability

At least eight Northern Territory commercial fisheries will set up their own custom-designed environmental management systems in this industry- managed project, using existing knowledge to develop systems to protect target stocks and the habitats on which they depend. The knowledge comes largely from previous FRDCfunded initiatives. They will use EMS training and development tools devel- oped by Seafood Services Australia and Oceanwatch, including the Green Chooser, the EMS resource kit and an EMS development CD. 2004/008 Improving demonstrated environmental accountability. Principal Investigator Iain Smith, NT Seafood Council, phone 08 8981 5194.

Tasmania too

Tasmania becomes the sixth State or Territory to take advantage of FRDC funding and Seafood Services Australia expertise to develop environmental management systems. In this case the templates are for aquaculture - of salmonids, oysters and abalone. As in the Northern Territory they will be developed by industry, uses existing knowledge and allowing each sector to decide whether it wants its EMS to be a code of practice, or go further to third party certification through ISO 14001 or other standards. 2004/096 EMS templates for Tasmania’s salmonid, oyster and abalone aquaculture sectors. Principal Investigator Ralph Mitchell, Tasmanian Fishing Industry Council, phone 03 6224 2332.

Uniform be thy oysters

FASTER growth should not be the number one research priority for Pacific oysters, Australian Seafood Industries secretary Bob Cox has told farmers.

Indeed, within limits, it was the least important.

The prime objective, he said, should be consistent growth of all oysters in a batch and this was the approach taken by ASI in commercialising improved genetic lines developed by the CSIRO and the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute with FRDC funding.

ASI was selectively breeding to deliver three consistent characteristics in each batch of spat delivered to farmers:

• Uniform meat and shell growth
• Uniform shape
• Better survival

For the first two characteristics, Bob Cox said a worst case scenario on farms was 11 or more handlings and the difference between best and worst was six handlings.

At an average one cent per oyster per handling, the cost per million in labour and equipment was $48,000 — assuming a death rate of 40 per cent, resulting in an average 800,000 oysters handled six additional times. Getting rid of just half the six extra handlings would save $24,000.

“Costs are created by the way the oyster grows through the farm, not by how fast it goes through,” he said. On survival, he said reducing the death rate from 40 per cent to 32 per cent on an initial one million spat batch would deliver an additional 80,000 oysters worth $32,000 at the farm gate.

A faster growing oyster required the same amount of attention as a slower one, but in a shorter time, which meant either more labour and equipment, or working the existing people and machinery harder — and big trouble if the grading fell behind.

Still, speed could deliver benefits. Turning off a crop six months faster meant 22 per cent better water utilisation and on a three hectare-one million spat example the gross savings before additional labour and equipment costs would be about $12,000.

But all in all the potential gains confirmed that ASI was right in concentrating on production of a uniformly growing oyster with a high survival rate.

“None of these savings is a bad return for paying an extra $4000 for one million spat,” Bob Cox said. “But no matter how much the spat is improved, poor farm management, unkind weather and poor performing water still hurt.

“These factors aside, ASI can provide the stock that has the attributes to succeed.”

MORE: Bob Cox, email A.S.I@pecserv.com.au.

EMS software’s final trials

AN interactive CD-ROM to help users set up their own customised environmental management systems is being trialled by industry groups around Australia. Final modifications will be made based on their feedback and a release version is expected to be available in September. The CD, designed by Seafood Services Australia in consultation with industry, allows users to work through eight steps to:

• Identify potential environment risks
• Set targets to reduce or eliminate these risks
• Decide what actions are needed
• Allocate responsibility and timelines for these actions
• Set monitoring, auditing and reporting processes

This information is stored in the program’s database and support material such as risk reports, action plans and lists of tasks for individuals can be printed from the program. The software then puts the information on an EMS template to let the user produce plans for:

• Environmental management
• Food safety
• OH&S
• Improved profitability
• Better community relations

“More and more seafood businesses and organisations are using EMS to lift environmental performance, increase profits and improve community relations,” said SSA Managing Director Ted Loveday. He said pursuing these goals was critical to future success and to maintaining access to fisheries resources at a time when the community expected all natural resource-based industries to meet appropriate environmental standards. Development of the CD is funded by FRDC and the Australian Government FarmBis program. MORE: Seafood Services Australia Ltd, phone 1300 130 321.

Miriam’s medal, seafood’s gold

A TASMANIAN who swapped her chef’s hat for seafood selling has been judged best in Australia at the business.

Miriam Phillips, now Retail Manager of Mures Fishmongers in Hobart, was awarded the gold medal for seafood retailing at the Worldskills competition in Brisbane.

Silver went to Nick Papaioanou of Canberra’s Woden Fish Market and bronze to David Edmunds of Catalano Brothers, Bassendean, Western Australia.

As a qualified chef looking for a bit of extra cash Miriam Phillips began her seafood career with some casual backroom work at the fishmongers 15 years ago ­ and ended up running the processing line.

Now, as retail manager with a staff of eight, she delights in passing on product knowledge and cooking advice to her customers and watching their enjoyment of seafood grow as they become more selective, confident and versatile. “At Mures we also liaise with our nearby CSIRO scientists and I love to find out about the lifecycle and habitat of the fish we sell and to examine the stomach contents to see what they’ve been feeding on,” she said.

In Brisbane, it was the first time seafood had been included among the more than 50 skills-based trade competitions staged under the Worldskills banner in association with a national careers and employment expo.

“We seafood competitors had to demonstrate a full kit of skills, from species identification to knife-sharpening, processing, creating promotional displays and delivering customer service,” said Miriam Phillips.

More than 47,000 people visited the Brisbane Convention Centre during the three days of trades competition and more than 3000 attended the presentation night.

Seafood Training Australia Senior Project Officer Anita Heijkoop, who organised the seafood competition with FRDC funding, said it had proved to be a great showcase, demonstrating the skilled professionalism of the competitors and some of the career opportunities available in the seafood industry. “It was also our chance to prove that we can run a successful seafood retailing competition. We plan to build on this for the next national titles in Melbourne in 2006 and ultimately aim for an international event in Japan in 2007,” she said.

MORE: Anita Heijkoop, phone 02 6281 0383.

Rare shark reporting praised

CSIRO researchers have praised fishermen who promptly reported their catch of a rare deep ocean shark off Tasmania’s west coast.

Skipper of the RockFish I Chris Shearer and mate Sam Smart caught the female goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni at a depth of about 500m while fishing for blue grenadier north of Strahan on Friday July 30. It was dead when brought aboard.

CSIRO biologists Ross Daley, Robert Whiteley and Michelle Treloar collected it from the RockFish at Strahan the next day.

Almost four metres long and weighing about 200kg, it is the first goblin shark known to have been caught in Tasmanian waters and only the fifth recorded Australia- wide. It is also the biggest specimen collected.

The FRDC-funded identification booklet Field Guide to Australian Sharks and Rays describes it as a rare and unusual shark unlikely to be confused with any other.

In fact, says guide co-author Ross Daley, it is one of a kind ­ a soft-fleshed species in a family of its own, normally inhabiting the continental slope at about 1200m. A unique fleshy snout over its mouth is used to sense prey in waters much deeper than light from the surface can penetrate.

Ross Daley thanked Chris Shearer and Sam Smart for promptly reporting the catch and thus contributing to knowledge of deepwater sharks.

“The biology of the goblin shark is very poorly known and we’ve asked fishers to contact the CSIRO or museums to allow us to build our knowledge,” he said.

The Tasmanian specimen has been examined at the CSIRO’s Hobart laboratories and its head and jaws will be preserved in the National Fish Collection.

Researchers say the pictorial Field Guide to Australian Sharks and Rays, waterproofed for on-board use, is a significant help to fishers in improving the accuracy of shark and ray bycatch recorded in their vessel logbooks. It lets them to identify the main target and bycatch species in Australian waters using simple external features of the animals.

MORE: Ross Daley, phone 03 6232 5352. Related fact sheets — Conserving Australian Sharks and Rays: http://www.marine.csiro.au/LeafletsFolder/53guide/53.html. Freshwater and Estuarine Shark Fauna: http://www.marine.csiro.au/LeafletsFolder/52river/52.html. CSIRO National Fish Collection: http://www.marine.csiro.au/LeafletsFolder/43fish/43.html.