47 results

Investigating drivers of environmental change in Pipe Clay Lagoon

Project number: 2023-176
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $38,400.00
Principal Investigator: Carryn Manicom
Organisation: Marine Solutions Tasmania Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 15 Sep 2024 - 29 Jun 2025
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Coastal lagoon systems in Tasmania form a fundamental part of coastal ecosystems. Healthy lagoons support local biodiversity, and play a key role in nutrient cycling and flood protection. They provide opportunities for sustainable aquaculture, fishing and tourism, while also being appreciated for their recreational amenity and cultural values. Sustainable management of coastal lagoons is essential to environmental and socioeconomic development.

There is limited information about the ecosystem drivers that are influencing the changes being observed in Pipe Clay Lagoon, leading to knowledge gaps in decision making tools and monitoring strategies required to identify and mitigate these changes. The proposed application is a multifaceted approach to investigate the environmental drivers of change in Pipe Clay Lagoon. The findings can then be used to provide valuable guidance for the management and conservation of other coastal lagoons in Tasmania facing similar challenges, providing a model for proactive monitoring and ongoing sustainability.

The FRDC has a responsibility to ensure that research is undertaken to assist in the management of fisheries and aquaculture resources for ongoing sustainability. The changes being experienced in Pipe Clay Lagoon will have implications on the availability and suitability of the lagoon as a sustainable aquaculture site. The planned approach and objectives of the application align with the FRDC’s R&D Plan for 2020-2025 through:

- Building people's capacity and capability
- Ensuring that resulting knowledge and innovation is adopted for impact through awareness of the needs of the ‘adopter’, local context and effective networking
- Continual improvement and collaboration of industry and community to deliver competitive advantage, healthier ecosystems and community support
- Provision of foundational information

Equally and importantly the application aligns with the NRM Strategy for Southern Tasmania 2030 for Pipe Clay Lagoon and similar systems in that wetland health is improved for socio-economically important systems by working with key partners and encouraging investment in monitoring, land and water management practices and on-ground works.
The enthusiasm of those engaged in the stakeholder consultation process was a strong indication of the need, interest and urgency of the application.

Objectives

1. Characterise and quantify environmental changes in Pipe Clay Lagoon, providing an evidence base for anecdotal observations of change.
2. Understand the drivers and interactions behind observed environmental changes in Pipe Clay Lagoon.
3. Identify management mechanisms to safeguard the values of Pipe Clay Lagoon and other Tasmanian coastal lagoons, including sustainability of the aquaculture industry.
4. Capacity building and increased marine literacy within community and industry to help observe and report change.
5. The applicant would welcome feedback and suggestions from FRDC and/or key beneficiaries for additional objectives.
Industry

Capability and Capacity: Understanding diverse learning approaches and knowledge transfer opportunities to inform and enable change

Project number: 2023-131
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $130,000.00
Principal Investigator: Nicole McDonald
Organisation: CQUniversity (CQU) Rockhampton
Project start/end date: 1 Jul 2024 - 10 Jul 2025
Contact:
FRDC

Need

FRDC recently co-funded a cross-commodity project on Designing the integration of extension into research project (James, 2022), which sought to improve adoption of outcomes from RD&E project. At the conclusion of this report, recommendations for Phase 2 were made, and these included several focused on developing and trailing different learning approaches for knowledge transfer. Understanding learning approaches required for different topics and cohorts is an essential next step to improve practical outcomes associated with development, change, and adoption processes. This project represents an opportunity for FRDC to build on this initial investment and generate new knowledge on the connection between learning approaches and knowledge transfer to enhance the fisheries and aquaculture sector’s capability and capacity for adaptability and change.

A systematic review of the literature on the topics of adult learning, knowledge transfer, and transformational change will identify and evaluate relevant findings for the fisheries and aquaculture sector. These will be further ground-truthed through extensive stakeholder consultation within (a) wild catch organisations, (b) aquaculture organisations, and (c) through the wider industry knowledge network (e.g. extension officers and research teams). A compilation of informal and formal learning and development opportunities in fishing and aquaculture within organisations and in the wider industry will be analysed, and case studies of best practice identified, analysed and showcased as examples of successful change, adoption, skill development and shift in mindset.

These evidence-based context-specific insights will be translated into a guide, tool or micro-credential for best practice in designing and delivering knowledge transfer and practice change activities. The usefulness and ease of use of this resource will be tested in a workshop with FRDC extension professionals and other interested stakeholders, refined and then introduced to the fisheries and aquaculture community for application to learning and training in organisations and throughout the wider industry. It is expected that the findings of this project will have implications for the project Capability and capacity: Navigating leadership pathways in fishing in aquaculture, in particular insights on how learning approaches for the topic area of non-technical skills development (e.g. communication, team effectiveness, career self-management, problem-solving, strategic thinking and foresight) occur within organisations that may prove to be the start of the leadership pathway for people within fisheries and aquaculture, and if done effectively may widen and diversity the talent pipeline into mid to high leadership level development opportunities.

This project has been designed with a 12-month timeline, with options to scale down if required by FRDC.

Objectives

1. This project will establish a practicable evidence-base for understanding the interaction between learning approaches and knowledge transfer to enhance human, organisational, and industry capacity and capability for adaptive change in the fisheries and aquaculture sector
2. A guide/tool/micro-credential to apply insights regarding successful learning approaches and knowledge transfer for the design and delivery of interventions targeting change, adoption, skill development and shift in mindset for a diverse range of relevant topics and segments of the fisheries and aquaculture sector
3. Deliver 2 workshops to test the use and ease of use of the guide/tool/micro-credential for key industry stakeholders
4. Deliver a webinar to share research findings and launch the guide/tool/micro-credential to the wider fisheries and aquaculture community
5. Determine multiple pathways to delivery for use of the guide/tool/micro-credential including integration and alignment to other relevant project such as Capability and capacity: Navigating leadership pathways in fishing and aquaculture and the Fishing and Aquaculture Workforce Capability Framework

Profiling and tracking change in Australia's seafood workforce: establishing a baseline workforce dataset

Project number: 2022-034
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $259,342.00
Principal Investigator: Stephane M. Mahuteau
Organisation: University of Adelaide
Project start/end date: 30 Sep 2022 - 28 Aug 2025
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The project developed to address the call for EOI recognises that the seafood workforce is diverse and operates within a changing natural, technological, and socioeconomic environment, providing unique challenges and opportunities. The seafood workforce also, however, operates within the wider Australian economy where rural and regional employment, small-medium business operations, and increasing value-adding opportunities are common topics of interest. The project proposes to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current data framework, make recommendations for improving it, and develop a baseline workforce dataset. The focus will be on the potential to use existing sources of data (particularly administrative data collected by government institutions and data that is required to be collected) and how and when those need to be effectively complemented with additional data. Administrative data are confidential and access limited as is the variety of seafood industry data often collected. Accessing administrative data is explicitly part of this proposal and identifying the sources of, and the type of data available, from industry surveys.

Objectives

1. To establish a baseline workforce dataset to address the lack of accessible, accurate workforce data
2. To identify how to overcome the shortcomings of official classifications to better align data information with how the seafood industry and its workforce operate.
3. To determine how using whole of population statistical data may provide a more accurate picture of the seafood industry workforce
4. To use available literature and expert input to provide an understanding of the true diversity of employment in the seafood sector.
5. To undertake a comprehensive stock-take of the relevant current data sources recording information on the seafood industry workforce.
6. To undertake a comprehensive analysis of the existing data sources and investigate the usefulness of large administrative data such as BLADE/MADIP.
7. To closely involve seafood industry participants through an effective stakeholder engagement strategy and promote a co-design element to the project
8. To provide recommendations to address data gaps and improve the utility of current data, and support the FRDC in meeting the objectives of its Capability and Capacity Building Strategy.
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PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-070
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Opportunities and impacts of range extending scalefish species: understanding population dynamics, ecosystem impacts and management needs

This work set out to quantify the biology and diet of three key range-shifting species in Tasmania with both recreational and commercial fishery value. The project was heavily reliant on engagement from the recreational fishing community and multiple citizen science initiatives, as well as...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-210
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Long-term analysis of the sea-state in the Great Australian Bight

This report provides a detailed characterisation, assessment and prediction of the meteorological and oceanographic conditions that will be encountered by, and have the potential to impact, future petroleum activities in the Great Australian Bight. In the absence of direct, long-term...
ORGANISATION:
University of Adelaide
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