The Third National Rock lobster Congress was hosted by the Western Rock lobster Council (WRLC), with funding received from registrations and sponsors.  The Principal sponsor for the event was the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC).  Gold sponsors of the event were RaboBank and the Western Rock lobster Development Association (WRLDA).  Silver Sponsors were the Geraldton Fisherman’s Co-Operative Ltd (GFC), Telstra Country Wide and Taylor Marine.   

The Congress was a single day event held on Tuesday the 16th September 2003, at the Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle, Western Australia and run in conjunction with the FRDC Rock lobster Enhancement and Aquaculture subprogram and FRDC Post Harvest Subprogram workshops.  The Lobster Congress was followed by the three days of the Seafood Directions Conference 2003, the biennial Australian seafood industry’s premier forum for discussions and presentations relating to the seafood business in WA.

The Congress is primarily aimed at the catching and processing sector of the Australian lobster industries, with more than 200 delegates attending the Congress including representatives from all the lobster producing states of Australia as well as a delegation from New Zealand.

The theme of the Congress was “Where we have been, where we are, and where are we going”, essentially a look at the progress of the lobster industry to date and the expectations for the future.  The program mix was specifically designed to raise industry awareness of key issues that require managing both now and into the future for both the catching and processing sectors of the industry.

Keywords:  Rock lobster Congress, Fremantle, market opportunities

Marketing the western rock lobster has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last 5 years. For the 1993/94 season 2.8 m kg out of a catch of (ca) 11 million kg was marketed live, approximately 25.5%, compared with 5% of the catch, which was the norm 5 years ago.

The rock lobster industry has developed on its own initiative handling, processing and packaging systems for live rock lobsters largely on an 'ad hoc' basis.

The Rock Lobster and Prawning Association of Australia, which includes amongst its members most WA lobster processors, packers and marketers, decided in 1993 that there was value in RLPA conducting and/or commissioning some applied post harvest research. Accordingly, it sought funds from the National Seafood Centre to conduct a research project into packaging systems used by its members during the 1993/94 rock lobster season. This project commenced in February 1994 and was completed in September.