Fisheries by-catch and processing wastes are principally organic in nature and therefore can be classified as “organic wastes”. Today there are three major forces operating, which are in effect beginning to control the movement of organic wastes. These are (a) the need for waste minimisation, (b) opportunity to utilise the high nutrient value in waste materials, and (c) increasing barriers for the disposal of waste products (especially those rich in organic content) in waterways or landfills
There are significant benefits to the seafood industry if these criteria can be met. The relevance to the processing industry and minimisation of off-site impacts should be of prime concern when considering the criteria listed above. Some targets to achieve these criteria are:
- Lowering volumes of waste streams leaving the processing industry
- Seeking lower cost disposal options
- Opting for profitable alternatives through value adding
- Increasing public acceptance through adoption of environmentally friendly practices

As well as the above, major benefits to the agricultural industry (especially the organic sector) can also be achieved from the availability of fisher waste-based fertilisers.

These fertilizers have potential use in both conventional and organic agriculture. However, the growing organic sector is of particular interest due to the relative lack of suitable organic fertilizers.

Organic production is a growing industry in Australia. The dearth of effective and tested, nutrient rich products that could be certified as "organic" is recognised within this industry. Provision of successful and a proven certified organic fertilizer has the potential to lift yields from organic farms, in turn encouraging greater adoption of organic farming. There is a strong belief that fish waste-based fertilizers could be designated as “organic”.

Although organic fertiliser products from fishery wastes have been available in the market for considerable time, long-term field evaluation of these products have been scarce. Such evaluation is essential to further extend the current market availability for fish-based fertiliser products. Effective extension of the organic market is only possible by capturing the broadacre organic production market.
Trials with fish-based fertilisers need to be first evaluated in a glasshouse, under controlled conditions to study the short- and long-term availability of nutrients on several soil types and plant crops. Armed with this information, field trials in selected high intensity horticultural production areas need to be conducted to work out appropriate rates and methods of application. Any trials conducted should be aimed at building confidence within the farming community so that a greater adoption rate is assured. Field trials need to be conducted on farmer properties so that tangible benefits from products tested are visually and financially convincing to both the conventional and organic farmer.

To demonstrate ongoing and long-term benefits from application of fish-based organic fertilisers for conventional and organic farming production, any field trial should be conducted over at least two cropping cycles. In addition, several types of products available in the market should be tested against commercially available, traditional inorganic and other organic (e.g. Dynamic Lifter) fertiliser sources.

Over 300 species are caught in the SEF, of which around 100 have commercial value. Twenty five species comprise around 90% of the landed catch. Each year, however, quotas are set for only around 17 species. There are 10 of these species for which there is (or has been) some formal stock assessment (that may not occur every year). For all of the remaining quota species and some of the more important non-quota species, no formal assessment is undertaken and the only assessment that can be made is based on investigation of trends in catch and effort and size distribution and anecdotal input from scientists and industry. There is simply not enough resources to undertake formal stock assessments for the wide range of commercial species landed in the SEF. Yet, each of these species is an important component of the catch of fishers. If the fishery is to continue to operate in its current form and meet the strategic assessments required under the EPBC Act, some form of formal assessment is required.

A recently completed ARF project (Production parameters from the fisheries literature for SEF-like species - Project no R99/0308) demonstrated the utility of using information for "similar" species when conducting assessments for SEF species. Using key parameters such as the virgin biomass, the rate of natural mortality, and the “steepness” of the stock-relationship relationship, a simple formula was developed for identifying “similar” stocks / species and an algorithm was developed for constructing prior probability distributions for these parameters. The resultant distributions can be used in Bayesian stock assessments and as the basis for sensitivity tests when applying other methods of stock assessments. The current project will refine the prior distributions for the production parameters and develop and test methods of stock assessment that use the results of assessments for well-studied species in a formal manner to inform assessments of ‘data-poor’ species. If successful, the methods developed would lead to significant benefits not only for the assessment and management of "data poor" SEF low priority, by-product and by-catch species, but also for a range of new and developing fisheries in Australia.

Federal and state legislation is increasingly demanding more stringent environmental controls on aquaculture activities and place the onus of proof for demonstrating environmental performance on the industry. In addition, regulation for and approval of aquaculture activities is increasingly directed through state EPAs. There is thus a regulatory imperative to defining the ESD sustainability indicators for the aquaculture industry.

Public perception of the industry as environmentally unsustainable is often not substantiated by scientific fact, but can have a detrimental affect on aquaculture development through objections to individual aquaculture planning applications. A negative public perception can also enhance the influence of uninformed pressure groups on Government policy development. This is a constraint to future development of the whole industry.

To address these two issues, there is a clear need to identify the issues related to various aquaculture sectors and develop protocols and frameworks through which organisations can demonstrate their compliance with environmental objectives. What is required is a national framework and standards for assessing the environmental performance of aquaculture. Additionally, industry needs to be equipped with practical tools and solutions for dealing with these issues.

The Standing Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture (SCFA) adopted an ESD framework for fisheries in 1998 and a FRDC/SCFA-funded project has undertaken a number of case studies using this framework. To date the focus of SCFA framework case studies has been on wild fisheries. This approach needs to be expanded to a broader range of stakeholders involved in aquaculture and fine-tuned to ensure it is appropriate for all aquaculture systems and sectors.

In addition, internationally benchmarked environmental management systems (such as ISO 14000) are options that should be explored to implement ESD frameworks and have already been developed for aquaculture sectors in other parts of the world (Gavine et al 1996, Boyd, 1999).

Advantages for the aquaculture industry in adopting the principles of ESD and documenting environmental performance include:

(1) Improved public perception of the industry;
(2) Reduction in waste and improved efficiency at site level;
(3) A competitive advantage in the market place if accreditation is used as a branding tool; and
(4) Ability to effectively engage new Government policies (such as Tradeable Emissions Policies).

This workshop will be the first step in bringing together the stakeholders to identify issues and develop practical solutions that will allow the Australian aquaculture industry to continue to develop in a sustainable manner.

Boyd, C. 1999. The aquaculture industry must learn to deal effectively with environmental issues, beginning with recognising the role of the different players involved. World Aquaculture 30 (2):10.
Gavine, F. M., Rennis, D. S. and Windmill, D. 1996. Implementing environmental management systems in the UK finfish aquaculture industry. J.C.I.W.E.M 10, October: 341-347.