R&D Priorities

THE FIVE STRATEGIC CHALLENGES

The FRDC and its stakeholders have analysed the fishing industry’s business environment and the likely developments during the next 20 years.

This analysis resulted in identification of the following five strategic challenges:

1. Natural resource sustainability –Maintain and improve the management and use of aquatic natural resources to ensure their sustainability.
2. Resource access and resource allocation – Optimise resource access, resource allocation and opportunities for each sector of the fishing industry, within a rights-based framework.
3. Response to demand; profitability–Respond to, and take advantage of, increased demand for seafood and for recreational and customary fishing experiences. Enhance the profitability of the fishing industry.
4. People development–Develop people who will help the fishing industry to meet its future needs.
5. Community and consumer support –Increase community and consumer support for the benefits of the three main sectors of the fishing industry.

Responding to the challenges

Demand for FRDC investment in research and development activities is increasing as stakeholders become more aware of the challenges they are facing.

Translating the demand into investment that will fulfil stakeholders’ needs is not easy. Fisheries and aquaculture managers often have different R&D priorities to industry. There is also increasing pressure from other areas of the community for public sector funds. This in turn limits the investment in R&D by government.

It is important, therefore, that the FRDC expands its revenue base to ensure maximum investment in fisheries R&D. The Corporation can do this by:

• providing more incentives for industry to contribute to the FRDC;
• tailoring arrangements to facilitate industry contributions, such as levies underpinned by legislation or memoranda of understanding;
• fostering better partnerships with research providers to ensure improved use of available resources to meet stakeholder needs;
• expanding the definition of gross value of production to recognise the economic value of the recreational and indigenous sectors;
• providing increased incentives for other users of fisheries resources to contribute to the FRDC; and
• taking a more commercial approach to the sale of knowledge, processes and technology.

Further, the FRDC needs to continue to develop flexible approaches to ensure it invests in a cost-effective way on behalf of stakeholders. Therefore, while for the foreseeable future, the competitive annual R&D cycle will remain the primary way the FRDC invests. The Corporation will need to look at other ways of funding R&D, including:

• commissioning research providers to undertake specific R&D; and
• supporting the formation of joint venture entities and other commercial arrangements.

APPLYING FOR FUNDING

To apply for funding, you should take the following steps:

1. Read the FRDC’s R&D plan to identify the key priority areas for funding.
2. Contact your local state Fisheries Research Advisory Body (FRAB) and (if appropriate) a FRDC Subprogram Leader.
3. Submit a pre-proposal to your FRAB in accord with its timetable.
4. Following feedback from the FRAB, submit a full application to FRDC via our web application package (FishNet).

In assessing these applications the FRDC Board relies heavily on the FRABs to pre-assess and then assess applications against the key priority areas for that funding round. It is therefore important to check with your FRAB before applying to the FRDC.

The FRDC recommends that before you submit in your application you seek support from relevant stakeholders such as industry associations.

Once applications are submitted, the FRDC Board will evaluate applications and select applications for investment. An announcement of successful applicants usually occurs in late April each year. For the latest information on FRDC’s investment processes, visit www.frdc.com.au.

CHALLENGE 1 - Natural resources sustainability

The challenge is to maintain and improve the management and use of aquatic natural resources to ensure their sustainability.

Addressing excess fishing capacity, overfished stocks and overfishing are key management challenges. The community requires the utilisation of fisheries and aquaculture resources to be not only ecologically sustainable, but also economically and socially sustainable. This is a prerequisite for sectors wanting access to aquatic resources. Aquatic habitats and aquatic animals need to be protected and maintained. Where environmental damage has occurred, methods need to be developed to restore the environment. Fisheries management is evolving from regulation and compliance to more inclusive self-management, accredited systems and incentive instruments that meet the reporting and assessment needs of ecologically sustainable development.

Significant drivers for 2005-08

• Fish stocks considered overfished will need to be recovered by implementing appropriate management measures.
• All sectors will be expected to contribute increasingly to the costs of management and research.
• Ecosystem-based fisheries management will require greater understanding of the impacts of commercial, recreational and indigenous fishing.
• Environmental certification will be routinely required for all sectors.
• Policy and strategies will need to address illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing and trading.
• The fishing industry will need to respond to pressure initiated by animal welfare groups.

Priorities for 2005-08

• Measure and mitigate the interactions of fishing and non-fishing activities on the aquatic environment and fish stocks.
• Meet the regulatory requirements of natural resource and environmental legislation such as the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act1999 (EPBC Act) and improve fisheries environmental management performance.
• Develop spatially explicit management models for fish stocks.
• Develop and implement industry-based environmental management systems.
• Improve the environmental performance of catch-and-release practices.

Key performance indicators

• Self-managed or co-managed fisheries governance structures and processes are developed and a minimum of five fisheries brought under self-management.
• 30 per cent reduction in species that are overfished or of an unknown status.
• Increased utilisation of fisheries R&D outputs by fisheries management agencies.

CHALLENGE 2 - Resource access and resource allocation

The challenge is to optimise resource access, resource allocation and opportunities for each sector of the fishing industry, within a rights-based framework.

The value that the community places on the use of aquatic resource is changing with aquatic and coastal development, increasing wealth and leisure time. Processes that are adaptive to changing values and that facilitate the evolution of the sectors are therefore important. A significant management challenge is to develop adjustment mechanisms to address over-capacity in relationto both the available catch and the economic viability of fisheries.

Significant drivers for 2005-08

• Allocation of access to fisheries resources between sectors will move away from methods based on historic catch to ones that seek to maximise economic and social returns to both the community and the industry.
• Spatial management, including the declaration of marine protected areas, will be used increasingly to protect biodiversity in ecosystems and preserve representative habitats.
• Demand for better fishing experiences by the recreational sector, and in particular the tourism component, will require greater emphasis on the maintenance and optimum utilisation of fish stocks.
• Demands for resource access to meet environmental and social needs will be increasingly competitive.

Priorities for 2005-08

• Develop processes to integrate fisheries management into coastal management.
• Determine the types of environmental, social and economic costs and benefits that arise from different closure systems, and their effectiveness in achieving multiple natural resource management objectives.
• Develop processes to inform and define inter-sector resource allocation.
• Develop methods for adjustment to address re-allocation between the three sectors.
• Develop a better research-based process for defining marine protected areas.

Key performance indicators

• Development of formal socio-economic assessments for incorporation into fisheries resource allocation processes.
• Evidence of improved use of spatial management as a tool for fisheries management.

CHALLENGE 3 - Response to demand; profitability

The challenge is to respond to, and take advantage of, increased demand for seafood and for recreational and customary fishing experiences; and to enhance the profitability of the fishing industry.

Demand for high-quality seafood is predicted to outstrip supply in both domestic and export markets; and similarly demand for high-quality fishing experiences will outstrip supply. All three sectors have a challenge to ensure their use of the aquatic resource best meets the demands of their stakeholders. There is a need to increase production and value of the catch (or in some fisheries the value), business profitability and international competitiveness, and to take advantage of future opportunities.

Significant drivers for 2005-08

• Supply chain efficiency will need to improve and, for example, eliminate unnecessary handling.
• Traceability will need to be improved through the use of new technologies.
• The fishing industry will need to reduce production costs, such as fuel, through gear, engine and vessel configuration changes.
• Increasingly, aquaculture investment will be based on the demand for seafood, driven by consumer preferences.
• Industry will need to develop and expand on its seafood promotion capabilities to deal with the competition that seafood is facing from other foods on domestic and international market.
• Seafood producers will need to make themselves better informed about ever-changing consumer preferences.
• Industry will need to respond to consumers’ concerns about food safety and labelling and their growing interest in all the characteristics of the products they buy.

Priorities for 2005-08

• Increase the profitability of businesses supporting the three sectors of the fishing industry.
• Develop capacity to produce more fish for consumption or for fishing experiences.
• Develop systems to increase market intelligence.
• Ensure that seafood is safe and of high quality.
• Develop innovative processes for value-adding through product development.
• Develop efficient, market-based supply chains that add value to product.
• Improve fishing practices to increase survival of released fish.

Key performance indicators

• At least two companies accessing new markets for domestically produced seafood.
• Establishment of a third-party audited food quality standard for vessels and processors.
• 5 per cent increase in finfish production through improved feeds and feeding practices.
• Establishment of a commercial operation specialising in the utilisation of fish processing waste.
• At least two entities utilising improved stock from selective breeding programs.

CHALLENGE 4 - People development

The challenge is to develop people who will help the fishing industry to meet its future needs.

The commercial, recreational and indigenous sectors of the fishing industry need to be driven increasingly by a culture that is market-focused and that places high value on learning, innovation and professionalism.

Significant drivers for 2005-08

• There is a shortage of industry leaders in all sectors of the fishing industry.
• There is a shortage of opportunities for people in industry to develop skills that are going to directly improve their effectiveness.
• There is a high turnover of fisheries management staff, which leads to less informed staff being called upon to make decisions on complex issues, will need to be reduced.
• The broad knowledge base on fisheries related issues, will need to be made more accessable through a single effective source.
• The fishing industry will need to learn from other industries that have embraced aknowledge and innovation culture, and seek to profit from new opportunities to grow their businesses.

Priorities for 2005-08

• Provide knowledge and processes that help to develop a market-based culture in the industry.
• Develop mechanisms to deliver better adoption of R&D results by industry.
• Enhance industry leadership, for all sectors, through appropriate training.
• Enhance opportunities for information and technology transfer within and between sectors.
• Promote an environment for adoption of business best practice.
• Develop industry champions to bridge the knowledge gap.
• Foster an environment that encourages innovation and R&D adoption.

Key performance indicators

• Two seafood people to complete the Australian Rural Leadership Program annually.
• Minimum of five postgraduate students complete courses.
• Minimum of ten fishing industry participants attend the “Advance in Seafood” Leadership Development Program.

CHALLENGE 5 - Community and consumer support

Increase community and consumer support for the benefits of the three sectors of the fishing industry.

The Australian community and consumers will benefit from being informed about the health effects of seafood. The fishing industry will benefit from a more informed community that is aware of the economic, environmental and social benefits arising from the industry, and more aware of the significance of the fishing experiences which people enjoy. From such understanding comes an informed community, which among other things enables better decision-making through political processes. The health benefits of seafood and the lifestyle benefits from recreational and customary fishing need to be identified and communicated to the community. The ways in which the fishing industry supports communities in rural and regional Australia also needs to be better understood.

Significant drivers for 2005-08

• The community is having a greater say in the use and management of all natural resources. Industry needs to engage with community representatives so that a good understanding of viewpoints can develop.
• The community is very concerned with environmental issues and how natural resources are being accessed and utilised.
• Consumer education is important in developing new markets and expanding existing markets.
• Consumers are becoming more aware of the role that seafood can play in their health.
• The community perception of the fishing industry is poor, despite the large investment in research which has led to significant changes in how the industry operates.
• Government and communities recognise aquaculture as a sustainable way of producing fish.

Priorities for 2005-08

• Develop relationships with community groups can assist the fishing industry.
• Increase consumers understanding of the health benefits of eating seafood.
• Address animal welfare and bio-security issues.
• Educate the community about fisheries and aquaculture management and its contribution to Australia.
• Communicate the benefits of government and industry investment in R&D.

Key performance indicators

• 10 per cent increased consumption of seafood by Australians.
• Aquaculture ventures are able to access new sites.