Over 60 people attended the two-day workshop, where FRDC shared its performance outcomes against priorities, stakeholders discussed the challenges of climate change, “pulling apart” all 400+ FRDC projects currently underway and learnt how to strengthen community trust in fishing and aquaculture.
Understanding the current operating environment and the complex issues faced by the fishing and aquaculture sectors coupled with the Australian Governments’ goal to conserve 30 per cent of Australia’s marine areas by 2030, were some of the topics raised by FRDC Managing Director Dr Patrick Hone, when he opened the workshop. This generated discussion on how the sectors might navigate a tech-forward and eco-conscious world to reform regulatory systems and enhance resource sustainability.
Patrick posed a question to attendees on how they could reframe threats as opportunities, which led to lively dialogue on the impact of nano plastics in seafood, the management of biosecurity and the potential dilemmas of exporting Australian seafood.
Held in late June, the workshop coincided with the FRDC RD&E Plan 2025-30 ‘Delivering impact through collaboration’ launch. FRDC General Manager of Strategy and Innovation, Dr Jennifer Marshall, presented the themes, trends and drivers highlighted in the new plan. Workshop participants commended the corporation on its inclusive culture and timely response to addressing their feedback gathered over the previous 18 months, while the plan was being developed.
Jennifer led FRDC’s update on ‘Our Performance Against Your Priorities’ and reflected on the FRDC R&D Plan 2020-25 and the projects currently being managed by FRDC. Analysis was also presented on valuing the projects against the 2020-2030 Statutory Funding Agreement. Specifically, on how FRDC had increased investment in industry and government focused projects such as the Futures of Seafood (FRDC Project 2023-092).
She also explained FRDC’s commitment to championing bold and new ideas with a focus on helping researchers to investigate opportunities that may “fail fast and safe” or progress further to deliver enduring prosperity.
FRDC General Manager of ICT & Digitalisation Kyaw Kyaw Soe Hlaing unveiled a cutting-edge prototype of an interactive digital map, that leverages advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning. This prototype organises more than 80,000 research projects from Research Link Australia, GrowAg and FRDC, clustering them into related research areas and allowing users to rapidly uncover knowledge and insights, to improve strategic planning and decision-making.
FRDC is actively developing this prototype into a fully accessible tool designed to serve scientists, industry leaders, and policymakers. It also aims to deliver increased visibility into FRDC’s research investments and priorities.
Enhancing community trust and social license
Factoring in feedback from last year’s community trust survey results presentation, FRDC invited data science and community engagement company Voconiq, to take participants through a case study fleshing out how they had assisted a Canadian-based mining company, to recover reduced trust within a close-knit Chilean community due to a drop off in community engagement, transparency of environmental data, investment in local community initiatives and employee training and skills development.
Day two of the workshop opened with a fun “speed dating” activity where participants explored all of FRDC’s current projects by picking five of FRDC’s 14 Key Trends and Drivers, on posters arranged around the room, and discussed what was working well for them, what they wanted to see more of and areas where they thought required improvement.
The remainder of the day focused on FRDC’s new $67.5m venture capital fund - VSea, developed in partnership with Artesian Investments (Artesian). VSea is a fund aiming to accelerate innovation in fishing and aquaculture by investing in high-impact startups aligned with Australian national and sector priorities.
VSea builds on Artesian’s proven track record in sectors such as agricultural technology, food security and clean energy, where it manages more than $625 million in venture capital.
Inspired by the success of Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Artesian’s GrainInnovate, VSea will support not only financial outcomes but also meaningful industry transformation by fostering cross-sector collaboration and adapting technologies for maximum impact across seafood supply chains.
Other sessions also included updates on key FRDC-supported research initiatives such as the SeaChange projects (2023-011), Futures of Seafood (2023-092), the Marine Heatwave Forecasting Tool (2024-107), and the Foundational Services and Coordination Programs—providing participants with a comprehensive overview of FRDC’s investment in areas such as the Indigenous Reference Group, aquatic animal health and biosecurity, human dimensions research, SafeFish, Fish Names and Aquatic Plan Names standards and Recreational Fishing Research.
