R&D News

Volume 14, Edition 1

National Rocklobster Congress Hobart October 2005

Change the only option

The need to adapt to change at sea and ashore was hammered home to delegates.

“Change your mentality from fisher to food supplier. Look to the successful food industries on this island for role models and look too at the ones that haven’t succeeded – such as potatoes – and learn why they’re in trouble,” said FRDC Executive Director Patrick Hone.

He said there already had been useful change – tri-state southern rocklobster fisheries had united to become an effective team and FRDC’s partnerships with them had been mutually beneficial, creating a model that other fisheries were adopting.

But he said momentum has slowed and he was concerned the rocklobster sector was resting on its laurels.

“You need to adapt to survive. This congress is a good opportunity to re-assert where you want to be in the next two years and FRDC i-s keen to support you in doing that.”

Southern Rocklobster Limited (SRL) Chair Roger Cotton said SRL market research had highlighted two serious structural problems:

Market price and competition through the supply chain
The capacity of an industry lacking big corporations with venture capital to raise the substantial sums needed for long term development, particularly market development

Change, he said, was the only constant and the serious challenges were becoming more apparent.

Open your eyes, optimise

Averaging 28 rocklobsters per pot lift - repeat, averaging - sounds like a fishing fantasy. But off Tasmania’s Maatsuyker Island it is more of a nightmare.

Here, of 76,411 female rocklobster lifted aboard in research shots, only eight were of legal minimum size, Caleb Gardner of the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute told the National Rocklobster Congress.

He said this and initial translocation experiments in Tasmania pointed to a great potential for wild fisheries to optimise catches and profits through better spatial management.

“There are almost no spatial elements in rocklobster fishery management across southern Australia,” he said.

He said it cost about $2.45/kg to translocate small rocklobster from the bottom of Tasmania to the top, where they quickly grew to legal size, improved egg production and were easier to catch than resident fish.

Assuming only half the translocated fish, by weight, were caught, the cost would be $4.90/kg.

“Add an R&D levy to bring the total to $7.18/kg and ask: ‘Would fishers pay this for quota?”

Tasmanian quota currently leases at $12-$17/kg.

As to the status quo, slow growth meant high natural mortality – a lot more lobsters eaten by predators or dieing of other causes.

With FRDC funding, translocation experiments had now been stepped up to commercial scale with, he said, the promise of delivering a massive improvement in fishery revenue.

Caleb Gardner said there also was great potential to improve the economics of the Tasmanian fishery by creating additional deepwater quota to ensure that substantial stocks of under-fished, pale-shelled rocklobster were targeted and marketed.

MORE: Caleb Gardner, phone 03 6227 7277.

Costs swamp RL price rise

A small recovery in beach price in the first half of the 2005 season had been wiped out by increasing catching costs, according to spokesmen for most of the nation’s six rocklobster fisheries.

The Western Australian fishery now faced catch reductions of 15 per cent in the north and five per cent in the south, following a 12,000t catch in 2004-05, Executive Officer Steven Gill told the National Rocklobster Congress.

These were being implemented through pot reductions, closures and other input controls and the fishery was about to begin a three stage process of evaluating other catch control options.

It also was to become the first WA fishery to integrate commercial and recreational management, with recreational fishers expected to be allocated one per cent of the catch in the north and 4.1 per cent in the south.

SA restructure

A major restructure was underway in South Australia’s northern zone, a fishery that was a social and economic disaster, unable to catch its quota, reported SA Advisory Council Executive Officer Roger Edwards.

In the southern zone, catches had continued to improve, averaging 2.1kg per pot lift in 2004-05, up from 0.8kg a decade earlier. Even with ‘serious high-grading’ most fishers were catching their annual quota in two to three months.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) and a long-running review of fisheries legislation were causing uneasiness about access security and the commercial fishery was keen to have the recreational take capped at 4.5 per cent.

Victorian lockout

Victoria’s small eastern zone off Melbourne was looking to a recreational share of 10 per cent – six tonnes – said spokesman Russell Frost.

The expected recreational quota in the western zone was five per cent – 22.5t.

He said Commonwealth MPAs were a threat, but Victorian fishers had already been hamstrung by a string of state reserves prohibiting access to prime rocklobster reefs, imposed without compensation in legislation that, he said, had been rammed through parliament.

Detrimental media coverage of a whale entangled in pot ropes had persuaded the fishery to introduce a code of practice that resulted in more balanced reporting when a second entanglement occurred.

NSW’s 25% cut

New South Wales’ Scott Westley said his fishery’s total allowable catch had been cut unnecessarily by 25 per cent to 102t as a result of poor scientific stock sampling and a managerial refusal to acknowledge industry advice. Catches, he said, were excellent, but extensive MPAs loomed as a major problem.

Tasmania

The MPA concern was echoed by Tasmanian Rock Lobster Association Chief Executive Officer Rodney Treloggen.

“Tasmania is the guinea pig and it’s a horror show,” he said of the Commonwealth’s process to establish its first MPAs in the south-eastern bio-region.

Western Australia

Richard Stevens of the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council had a snippet of advice for politicians at the congress: “MPAs drive up the price of fish. Tell that to your voters.”

Queensland

For Queensland’s east coast and Torres Strait dive fisheries for tropical lobsters Jim Fogarty painted a brighter picture, reporting the highest-ever catch - 1150t - and an apparently insatiable demand from China, where they are eaten raw as sashimi.

As dive fisheries, fuel costs were not a major concern. Catch per unit of effort was the best ever, but the corporatised Queensland-based fisheries were looking to reduce the number of fishing days and to move from input to output controls, he said.

Lobster a fashion choice?

“Rocklobster is a fashion choice, not a protein source. Nobody eats it to survive,” Richard Stevens of the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council told the National Rocklobster Congress.

He said rocklobster’s real competition was meat. People chose it on a restaurant menu to demonstrate affluence or celebrate success, but the restaurant owner was just as happy if they selected beef, because he had built in a profit on both.

“Never forget that the public has a buying choice,” he said.

Target the conspicuous consumer, advocated Daryl Sykes, Manager of the New Zealand Rock Lobster Industry Council.

He said New Zealand rocklobster exports remained as high as ever, but the price now was fixed to the customer’s economy, not the seller’s.

Daryl Sykes also urged the Australian fisheries to consider trans-Tasman cooperation in marketing spiny rocklobster to the world, a suggestion the congress endorsed – see Aust-NZ work together.

“There are business relationships that can be made and the timing is absolutely right, for business and political reasons. I encourage you to take this initiative sooner rather than later,” he said.

SRL is ready

Roger Edwards of Australia’s tri-state Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL) said SRL through its unified approach now had the structure to consider such a cooperative approach to orderly marketing. That aside, SRL’s intention was to replace overseas market gatekeepers who barred access to end users and to re-position southern rocklobster in the super-fine-dine market segment.

“We need people in the market who actually are working for us. Branding and market positioning are crucial.”

Currently, SRL’s 700 owner-operators allowed their destiny to be controlled by importers and distributors in China, Roger Edwards said. “We don’t market at all. We just deliver to the wharf.

“But now we have a road map and, with it, the capacity to raise money for market development.”

Susan Nelle, Managing Director of the National Food Industry Strategy Ltd, (NFIS) said the export food sector had to build on the positive international image of Australia created by tourism marketing.

“They (tourism) have a $40m campaign in overseas markets. We don’t have any.” She said the strategy was to build a banner image for Australian food, position seafood under that and tell its story, followed by individual species and their stories.

“It’s not about losing your identity. It’s about giving you a place from which your identity will shine through uniquely, because you don’t have to tell the Australian story.

“We can do this together,” she said.NFIS describes itself as an industry-led, Australian Government-funded initiative to position the food industry in the global market, sustainably and profitably.

MORE: NFIS, phone 02 6270 8800; www.nfis.com.au

Marketing top R&D issue

SEAFOOD approached the end of 2005 as the only Australian food industry without a marketing and promotion body, but the demand on FRDC to help reverse the resulting marketing failure is enormous, says Executive Director Patrick Hone.

“It’s now the number one issue for R&D funding. Demand has skyrocketed,” he told the National Rocklobster Congress, “and the industry trend is to form bigger, more unified bodies.” (See SEA’s aim: seize profits elsewhere in this edition)

He said FRDC’s successful partnership with Southern Rocklobster Ltd was being followed by the development of a marketing strategy for abalone, Australia being the world’s biggest wild-harvest producer. (See Unite, abalone mob told elsewhere in this edition)

“The first thing the Abalone Council wanted to know was how much abalone is sold internationally – where, what species and by whom.

So we had to start with the basics,” Patrick Hone said.

He said demand, price and profit for dried abalone were booming, yet Australia did almost no dried value-adding.

“We seem to be missing all the market signals in terms of change,” he said.

FRDC also was working with the recently-formed Australian Council of Prawn Fisheries where, once again, the first question to be answered was ‘who sells what in the world?’

There also was a move towards maximising harvest economics, with fisheries such as Northern Prawn shifting the emphasis from maximum sustainable yield (MSY) to maximum economic yield (MEY). See Profit in manager’s mix elsewhere in this edition)

His take-home message on R&D investment?

“In fisheries management, some R&D initiatives take a long time to deliver a return on investment to industry.

“Start working cleverer-better on market development and you’ll get a much quicker return on your investment dollar.

“So we urge you to get together, unify, find out about these (marketing and promotional) initiatives - and we’re keen to hear how they translate into R&D,” FRDC’s Executive Director said.

Team-tackle rich Europe

“EUROPE is big. It’s wealthy. It imports 20,000t of rocklobster a year. It’s a growth market. And there’s a market there for you.”

That’s the message Western Australia’s Agent-General in London, Robert Fisher, delivered to the National Rocklobster Congress in Hobart.

He said the European Union (EU) had cut its tariff on Australian lobster to six per cent – about $2/kg – for up to 1500t a year and some WA operators already were selling direct to retailers.

In comparison, the WA experience in China and Japan had been one of competing sellers dealing with monopolistic cartels – a combination that made direct selling impossible.

“You need an alternative and in the EU new relationships are possible. You don’t have to deal with cartels.”

The EU, he said, was now 25 countries with an affluent population of 451m and free movement of goods and people – a market of opportunity. But some team work was necessary first.

“Your product is probably the best in the world and your fisheries are leaders in technology and environmental performance.

“Your industry is unified at the front end. At the marketing end it isn’t. It never has been.

“A unified approach to international marketing, in the long term, is going to be critical. I think you should give it - and Europe - serious consideration.”

Robert Fisher also urged Australia’s rocklobster fisheries to take advantage of Austrade and state government assistance to maintain a presence at the European Seafood Exposition in Brussels, where the seafood buyers of the world gather annually.

Aust-NZ work together

THE competing spiny rocklobster fisheries of Australia and New Zealand have decided to take the first steps towards a collaborative marketing strategy.

Executive officers of the fisheries associations of New Zealand, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia will meet twice a year to explore common marketing objectives with the aim of increasing profits and securing income streams.

The decision was made at the National Rocklobster Congress in Hobart, where all Australasian fisheries except those of Queensland and New South Wales reported they had suffered another year of depressed prices.

Marketing top R&D issue

Seafood approached the end of 2005 as the only Australian food industry without a marketing and promotion body, but the demand on FRDC to help reverse the resulting marketing failure is enormous, says Executive Director Patrick Hone.

“The first thing the Abalone Council wanted to know was how much abalone is sold internationally – where, what species and by whom.

So we had to start with the basics,” Patrick Hone said.

He said demand, price and profit for dried abalone were booming, yet Australia did almost no dried value-adding.

“We seem to be missing all the market signals in terms of change,” he said.

FRDC also was working with the recently-formed Australian Council of Prawn Fisheries where, once again, the first question to be answered was ‘who sells what in the world?’ There also was a move towards maximising harvest economics, with fisheries such as Northern Prawn shifting the emphasis from maximum sustainable yield (MSY) to maximum economic yield (MEY). See Profit in manager’s mix elsewhere in this edition)

His take-home message on R&D investment?

“In fisheries management, some R&D initiatives take a long time to deliver a return on investment to industry.

“Start working cleverer-better on market development and you’ll get a much quicker return on your investment dollar.

“So we urge you to get together, unify, find out about these (marketing and promotional) initiatives - and we’re keen to hear how they translate into R&D,” FRDC’s Executive Director said.

“Europe is big. It’s wealthy. It imports 20,000t of rocklobster a year. It’s a growth market. And there’s a market there for you.”

That’s the message Western Australia’s Agent-General in London, Robert Fisher, delivered to the National Rocklobster Congress in Hobart.

He said the European Union (EU) had cut its tariff on Australian lobster to six per cent – about $2/kg – for up to 1500t a year and some WA operators already were selling direct to retailers.

In comparison, the WA experience in China and Japan had been one of competing sellers dealing with monopolistic cartels – a combination that made direct selling impossible.

“You need an alternative and in the EU new relationships are possible. You don’t have to deal with cartels.”

The EU, he said, was now 25 countries with an affluent population of 451m and free movement of goods and people – a market of opportunity. But some team work was necessary first.

“Your product is probably the best in the world and your fisheries are leaders in technology and environmental performance.

“Your industry is unified at the front end. At the marketing end it isn’t. It never has been.

“A unified approach to international marketing, in the long term, is going to be critical. I think you should give
it – and Europe – serious consideration.”

RL culture is inevitable

Why use scarce R&D dollars to determine if rocklobster aquaculture is technically and commercially feasible in Australia?

Because rocklobster is potentially the most valuable aquaculture species worldwide, said Robert van Barneveld, Leader of FRDC’s Rocklobster Enhancement and Aquaculture Subprogram, anticipating criticism from the floor of the congress that aquaculture is a threat to Australia’s wild rocklobster fisheries.

“Like it or not, it’s an area of interest worldwide. It won’t go away.

Unless we’re empowered to on-grow lobsters we’ll be left behind.”

On the grow-out of puerulus from the wild, he said interest was keenest in Western Australia because of the opportunity there to collect puerulus in years of high settlement. But he acknowledged the sensitivity of access rights to wild stock, saying more discussion was needed.

“Access to seed stock is the bottleneck. Overcome it and aquaculture can develop quickly.

“We have the technical capacity, if we have access to seed stock, to grow out a number of species in Australia – and it would be commercially viable.”

However he said Australia’s main opportunity was to culture rocklobster from broodstock eggs, to make closed-cycle hatchery production possible and thus avoid the problems associated with puerulus collection.

Progress had been good, but commercial propagation probably was 10 years away.

Wild-harvest benefits

He said protocols and habitat conditions had been developed for the release in the wild of juveniles grown-out from wild-harvest puerulus and all fishery sectors were keen to see work continue on this and on subprogram advances in adult capture for on-growing, translocation and value-adding.

After closing the lifecycle, Robert van Barneveld said, wild fishery enhancement was the greatest subprogram priority.

Similarly, the aim of the Rocklobster Post-harvest Subprogram was to help fisheries make more money, said its Leader, Bruce Phillips.

Investigating the bio-medical potential of shell chiton and development of a global rocklobster market database were proposed new post-harvest projects.

MORE: Rob van Barneveld rob@barneveld.com.au or
07 3290 6600

Team-tackle rich Europe - Marketing top R&D issue