Project need from the call for applications (summarised):
Across the globe, First Nations and Indigenous Peoples have been and continue to negotiate recognition of their fishing rights and for their knowledge and interests to be directly accounted for in intersectoral allocation and fisheries management. Recognition of Indigenous fishing rights into current fisheries management, in resource sharing policies and allocation is in various stages of development across Australia's states, territories, and the Commonwealth. At the same time and at the more operational level, harvest strategies are being developed which include Indigenous and cultural fishing, but greater guidance is required regarding harvest strategy settings which recognise the importance and account for the cultural, social, and economic impacts on local abundance and availability of fish stocks for Traditional Owners and local Indigenous communities. However, there is a gap in knowledge of possible approaches to address this, and the ability to generalise is still needed. To this end, this project will undertake a review of approaches and policies developed internationally and domestically for incorporating Indigenous Rights, knowledge, practices and catch (Cultural-Customary and Cultural-Commercial) into resource sharing and harvest strategy frameworks. It will identify possible approaches available for Australian fisheries management agencies, Traditional Owners, and Indigenous communities, while recognising the different historical, cultural, and legal contexts of different jurisdictions.

Summary of UTS approach:
The UTS project team will meet this need through convening a highly experienced team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, each with relevant expertise and experience in Australia and internationally. The existing work of the research team on multiple Indigenous harvest strategies and Indigenous led natural resource management initiatives will be drawn on to provide a sound basis for a survey of relevant examples. Importantly, senior Indigenous researchers guiding the project already have strong international networks and up to date knowledge on relevant international developments, that will be mobilised to guide this work, and to broker the knowledge and linkages of a range of expert participants into the project.

The research design for this proposal includes a thorough desktop study of the field, including mobilisation of UTS developed databases of specific relevance to the topic area, as well as detailed consultation with Australian and international experts throughout the process. The project will also involve co-production of knowledge with relevant experts/end users, through research activities designed to identify the parameters that influence what approaches are 'fit-for-purpose' in Australian settings.

Current resource use challenges sustainability and resilience of industries. Circular value chains allow management of waste losses and maximise resource recovery. A circular economy (CE) mimics the cycles in nature in which there is no waste. Maximum value and utility of products and materials is maintained in CE through a combination of extending product lifetimes, increasing resource use intensity, and end-of-life material recycling. CE includes the idea of regenerative development, i.e. as the earth’s resources cycle as materials through the economy they restore and enhance, rather than deplete, natural capital.

Economic opportunities of circularity are well identified, the World Economic Forum estimates global adoption of CE principles would deliver cost savings of US$1trillion dollars per annum by 2025. A recent UTS:ISF study estimated an Australian CE could be worth AU$2 billion by 2025. However, current knowledge gaps constrain how CE may develop, at what scale it makes sense to close loops, and the strategies, policy mix and incentives needed to promote circularity.

For fisheries and aquaculture, CE adoption addresses waste challenges through the creation of new value chains for fish/shell waste and substitution or recycling plastics and provides co-benefits of resource efficiency, contributions to healthy aquatic eco-systems and creation of added value and new employment. Frameworks to guide ‘CE thinking’ exist e.g. Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s 10R’s and ReSOLVE (see Supplementary Material), but have not been explored, are often omitted in food innovation debates (Pagotto and Halog 2015), and opportunities for implementation within the sector are still emerging (e.g., replacement of fish-feed for abalone with wine production waste or repurposing mussel shells as high-nutrient fertiliser). The need to understand the context, opportunity and benefit of CE innovations and to identify strategic approaches to sectoral circularity at scale are apparent.