Rebuilding Southern Rock Lobster stocks on the east coast of Tasmania: informing options for management
Resource Sharing in Australian Fisheries Workshop - Progress to Date, Lessons Learnt and Next Steps towards a harmonised approach
Recreational fishing and human wellbeing: insights from existing data and development of best practice approaches to future measurement
This project is needed as there are knowledge gaps about the effect of recreational fishing on the health and wellbeing of recreational fishers. Recent years have seen many claims about the health and wellbeing benefits of recreational fishing, as well as growing interest in nature connection and outdoor recreation as wellbeing interventions more generally. Measuring and valuing the wellbeing benefits of recreational fishing is not currently possible due to a lack of evidence, and limited methods for monitoring, measuring and reporting wellbeing effects. The FRDC’s RD&E Plan 2015-20 aims by 2020 to have robust community net benefit metrics that enable measurement of the benefits of fishing. This project will develop robust metrics related to health and wellbeing benefits of recreational fishing. Achieving this requires better understanding both (i) whether and under what circumstances engaging in recreational fishing has measurable impacts on health and wellbeing, and (ii) how to measure these benefits to produce readily accessible and understandable metrics. This will help achieve the FRDC’s national research strategy deliverable ‘Social contribution is supported by the fishing and aquaculture sector so it can capture the non-monetary value of activities across sectors.’ This work will also contribute to national science and research priorities in the health field, specifically the priority ‘Build healthy and resilient communities throughout Australia by developing … preventative strategies to improve physical and mental well-being’ (http://www.science.gov.au/scienceGov/ScienceAndResearchPriorities/Pages/Health.aspx). Nationally, this research priority aims to develop strategies for supporting wellbeing. This project contributes by identifying the role recreational fishing can play in building healthy and resilient communities through supporting physical and mental wellbeing. This research will also contribute to the overarching aims of Australia’s rural research, development and extension strategy, which include ‘develop a range of technologies and knowledge to contribute to healthy Australian lifestyles’ (http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/ag-food/innovation2/nsrrdip-investment-plan1.pdf)
Stable isotopes: a rapid method to determine lobster diet and trace lobster origin?
'If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else' - Future proofing the Australian Mud Crab Industry through improved strategic direction
Informing the structural reform of South Australia's Marine Scalefish Fishery
South Australia’s Marine Scalefish Fishery (MSF) is currently undergoing a strategic review with the principal aim of restructuring the fishery in order to ensure its long-term sustainability and economic viability. The heterogeneous mixture of participants, fishing devices, licence conditions and regulations associated with this fishery makes the tasks of administering and managing it extremely challenging. These complexities intertwined within a highly dynamic fleet that is capable of shifting fishing effort amongst species and regions often alters the emphasis of its overarching management. Industry and Government are working collaboratively to address the inherent complexities of the fishery through firstly developing a mechanism to rationalise the fleet, then reforming its overall structure, and ultimately refining its future management. In order to optimise this structural reform, it is necessary to disentangle and understand the fleet dynamics of this extremely complex fishery. This project aims to explore the implications of strategic management options (e.g. regionalisation, licensing, ITQ’s and ITE’s) on the future structure and viability of the MSF, from resource sustainability, economic and social perspectives.
Final report
This study was undertaken by the South Australia Research and Development Institute (SARDI) in collaboration with PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture, BDO EconSearch, the Marine Fishers Association (MFA), Fishwell Consulting and University of Canberra. This project guided the reform of South Australia’s commercial Marine Scalefish Fishery (MSF) by providing scientific advice and analyses to underpin its implementation. The MSF is a multi-sector, multi-gear and multi-species fishery, making any management reform a complex and difficult process. Both the sustainability of key stocks and commercial fishery’s economic performance have been deteriorating over a 20-year period; significantly influenced by fishery overcapitalisation. Simply put, there were too many fishers and not enough fish to support a vibrant and sustainable commercial fishery. This was addressed through the three ‘pillars’ of the reform: regionalisation, unitisation and rationalisation. These pillars were reflected in the reform with: 1) the creation of four new zones of management; 2) implementation of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) for appropriate ‘Tier 1’ stocks; and 3) rationalisation of the commercial MSF fleet by removing one third of licences through a voluntary licence surrender program (VLSP). These pillars were supported by research on the biological, economic and social carrying capacity of the fishery. The reform was implemented on 1 July 2021 resulting in a fishery that has regional management with appropriate output controls and a reduced fleet size.
The Detection of Ciguatera Toxins in NSW Spanish Mackerel
Fisheries Management: From Science to Sustainable Practices (program development)
Developing the capability and capacity relating to fisheries management is crucial to enable a sustainable fishing industry and a viable fishing and aquaculture community.
Current global, national and jurisdictional workforce challenges are impacting on attracting and retaining capable fisheries managers, with a growing need to build entry level capability with new entrants and those transitioning into fisheries management. Additionally, the need to inform and educate stakeholders about fisheries science and fisheries management continues to increase as changes to regulations and operations occur, impacting on license to operate, undertake strategic business planning and necessitating capabilities enabling negotiation, collaboration and stakeholder engagement.
In collaboration with Ian Knuckey, FRDC and end users, this project will design and develop a road map to build and pilot a Fisheries Management: From Science to Sustainable Practices program. This approach will increase access and reach in terms of stakeholder engagement/end users, building capability and capacity in fishing and aquaculture community beyond current learning opportunities. Learning will be accessible to a range of cohorts and via industry structures requesting access to fisheries management training and development, specifically harvest strategies and stock assessment. The project will enable different approaches to learning to be explored by FRDC and available stakeholders including self-directed (on demand), hybrid and face to face workshops via extension.
This project provides an opportunity to ensure DAWE/DAFF investment is leveraged, to think differently on utilising resources to build fisheries management capability and move towards a learning hub approach to build capability and capacity. The project will provide a flexible learning journey pathway for a variety of end users which is clear, can be personalised and aligned to enabling continuous capability and capacity development, providing a structured approach capable of future growth.
Final report
With the project ceasing, there was an opportunity to include project delivery and engagement learnings and transition resources into improved learning pathways to enable self directed, hybrid and facilitated learning via FRDC. The project will utilise the FRDC website for on-demand style learning and learning management system (LMS) platform to host topics/modules.
This project builds on initial transition work, funded by Fisheries Capacity Building Network project in collaboration with FRDC, to retain and re-imagine building capability and capacity for broader and diverse stakeholders which utilises technology to compliment learning approaches. The program aims to:
- Develop clear learning pathways for diverse audiences
- Build sustainable capacity and capability
- Enable effective learning through varied modalities
- Foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing among diverse stakeholders within the fisheries sector
- Providing accessible, engaging foundational educational resources on fisheries science and sustainable management practices