38 results
Industry

Our Pledge: Australian seafood industry response to community values and expectations

Project number: 2017-242
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $153,484.97
Principal Investigator: Jane D. Lovell
Organisation: Seafood Industry Australia (SIA)
Project start/end date: 14 Aug 2018 - 30 Jul 2019
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Despite considerable investment in RD&E to understand why the Australian seafood industry has been experiencing diminished levels of socio-political and community acceptability, there is still uncertainty regarding the significant values of different segments of the Australian community for coastal and marine systems, their management and industry (Essence Communications 2015). Further, there is evidence these values and associated expectations are highly changeable and can have significant individual, business and national repercussions. While the seafood industry already operates from a strong values-based position of its own - ‘sustainability’, there is evidence the community's concerns have expanded to include animal welfare, supply chain integrity, modern slavery for example.

Understanding community values and expectations is important but not enough. Industry must articulate and demonstrate its commitments to addressing kncommunity expectations. This is critical to breaking the reactive negative cycle that threatens resource access, mental health and viability of our industry. A means of monitoring and tracking industry's success in responding to the community's changing expectations and values must also be developed.

Seafood Industry Australia's (SIA) members have identified social licence. This project is a tangible commitment to a national conversation and action to address community values. It is an opportunity to build seafood industry unity on the basis of a set of shared values and supporting practices.

Australian Council of Prawn Fisheries (ACPF) has initiated a lot of this listening and values-related work relevant to wild catch prawns. ACPF is ready to design, implement and evaluate activities that embed these values as messages and convey the supporting or changing behaviours as proof. ACPF needs to ensure that its outputs reflect the direction of the Australia seafood industry and sees advantages in liaising with SIA as it produces outputs at sector level. In doing so, it will provide a test case for how other seafood industry sectors can undertake to acknowledge and respond to community values and expectations, and make a national set of shared industry-community values their own.

Objectives

1. Identify values of major segments of the Australian community for fisheries resources and seafood industries, and expectations of industry behaviours that support those values
2. Identify values of the Australian seafood industry that are common across the industry at national and sector/regional scales
3. Establish industry response to community values and expectations, including measurable benchmarks of industry behaviours and performance that demonstrate commitment
4. Demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of a community engagement and communication strategy that is built on recognised shared values and committment to supporting industry behaviours (Extension proof of concept – Prawns)
5. Increase capacity of industry's current and emerging leaders to engage in values-and-behaviours conversations with community leaders on an ongoing basis

Report

Author: Futureye
Report • 2020-09-07 • 1.02 MB
2017-242_Review of Community Attitudes.pdf

Summary

Seafood Industry Australia commissioned Futureye to review existing research into the Australian communities attitudes toward seafood, as well as other market research, that has been undertaken since 2014. The findings from this review were used to make recommendations to Seafood Industry Australia about what to address in their pledge to demonstrate the industry’s intent to earn its ‘social licence to operate.’

Project products

Report • 2020-09-07 • 354.06 KB
2017-242_The Pledge - Industry Values & Practices.pdf

Summary

Seafood Industry Australia commissioned Sea Change Consulting Australia to review values statements and recorded practices of 52 Australian seafood organisations. This review collated the most common Australian industry values and underpinning behaviours (practices), which provides evidence to demonstrate the industry’s effort and performance regarding to meet shared practices and values to earn its social licence to operate.

Report • 2020-09-07 • 1.12 MB
2017-242_Community Sentiment Research.pdf

Summary

Essence was engaged by Seafood Industry Australia to undertake a research program to help inform the development of a pledge to the Australian community and provide a benchmark of community sentiment towards the Australian seafood industry.

Final Report • 2020-09-15 • 3.70 MB
2017-242-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Australian seafood industry has clearly identified social licence and community perceptions as critical issues for its ongoing viability and prosperity. This is because current research shows substantial proportions of the Australian public are concerned or knows little about the ethics, environmental impact and governance of the seafood industry. To help improve industry’s social licence, this project aimed to develop a clearer understanding of community and industry values and underpinning behaviours to identify both threats to social license and behaviours community would like to see reinforced by industry.

Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-093
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture Statistics 2018

Since 1991 ABARES has published detailed production and trade data annually in Australian fisheries statistics, now renamed Australian fisheries and aquaculture statistics. The publication is designed to meet the needs of the fishing and aquaculture industries, fisheries managers, policymakers and...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry

Fishing and Aquaculture Workforce Capability Framework

Project number: 2022-153
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $127,997.50
Principal Investigator: Deborah C. Prentice
Organisation: RM Consulting Group (RMCG)
Project start/end date: 2 May 2023 - 7 Mar 2024
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The objective of this foundational work is to collaborate with industry to produce a Fishing and Aquaculture Workforce Capability Framework. The Framework will be used by fishing and aquaculture sectors / communities for workforce planning and career mapping. It will support a more strategic and consistent approach to workforce planning. This in turn, will enable industry to build its capacity through better understanding of capability needs.

In addition to the universal challenges associated with a tight labour market (e.g. attracting people, barriers to entry, addressing skills needs), the industry is operating in a changing environment. Other challenges and opportunities for the fishing and aquaculture sectors include:
• Adapting to climate change
• Biosecurity
• Managing resources efficiently
• Meeting sustainability standards / social license to operate
• Moving to a circular economy
• Managing global supply chains (developing traceability, addressing counterfeit)
• Competing with other proteins
• New markets through free trade agreements
• Adopting digital technology, and;
• Attracting and retaining people to drive responses to changes that impact on the F&A community.

The AgriFood Supply Chain Resilience report (KPMG, 2022) identified ‘labour supply, wellbeing and succession’ as one of the significant stresses for seafood supply chains. Other significant stresses were weather and climate change, cold chain and freight space availability, sustainability and social licence, pests and disease and market access.

Fish Forever (2030 vision for Australia’s fishing and aquaculture community) highlights opportunities for the F&A community and contains outcomes under each of the following missions:
1. Growth for enduring prosperity
2. Best practices and production systems
3. A culture that is inclusive and forward thinking
4. Equitable and secure resource access
5. Society and consumers trust, respect and value.

This project will identify the capability needs (current and future) to address these challenges and opportunities. Further, it will support industry, to attract and retain people and to provide pathways to build capability. Sectors will be better informed as to how to address capability needs.

Addressing these needs will ensure industry is better equipped to respond to changes, challenges and opportunities that impact the fishing and aquaculture communities. The fishing and aquaculture map (FRDC website) highlights the “complex systems behind Indigenous, commercial and recreational fishing and aquaculture in Australia and how the elements are connected”. It also highlights how issues or events in one part of the system can have impacts on other sectors. Therefore, industry needs to be prepared for changes.

This project will engage with all key F&A sectors to ensure the capability framework is industry-driven and collectively owned. In addition, the project approach is designed to utilise existing sector/industry plans and not replace existing frameworks. RMCG will work collaboratively with industry.

Objectives

1. Development of a fit-for-purpose capability framework for the fisheries and aquaculture industries and individual organisations
2. Engagement and collaboration with key industry stakeholders to enable adoption and use of the framework
3. Establishment of a shared process and terminology for talking about capabilities throughout the fishing and aquaculture industry
4. Mapped critical capabilities highlighting gaps and opportunities for collaborative action

Final report

Authors: Deborah Prentice Sasha Brightman Natasha Frazer and Anne-Maree Boland
Final Report • 2024-06-01 • 14.11 MB
2022-153-DLD.pdf

Summary

In 2023 RM Consulting Group (RMCG) was contracted by FRDC to develop a Fisheries and Aquaculture (F&A) Workforce Capability Framework (hereafter referred to as the Framework) that would be used as a high-level, standardised tool across all F&A sectors. The FRDC and other groups in leadership roles for Australia’s F&A sectors have highlighted workforce development as a key opportunity and priority.
We have created a comprehensive Framework that captures the enablers (the internal and external systems and culture that either help or hinder employees and businesses to thrive and support growth in people’s capability) and the people capabilities (knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviours) that should be considered as a starting point in F&A workforce planning.
The intention of this project was to collaborate with industry to produce a F&A Workforce Capability Framework. This has been achieved, as demonstrated through the many and diverse stakeholders engaged and the attached Framework. The stakeholders interviewed and engaged had some interest and/or experience in workforce issues so were able to add value to the development of the Framework. They will also be able to champion the subsequent  implementation of projects that emerge from the Framework.
The Framework is a step towards addressing the above challenges and opportunities. It provides a broad, high-level approach to thinking about how to  meet the needs and aspirations of businesses and organisations.
The case studies included in this document offer real-world examples of where innovative thinking has been used to solve issues around workforce  planning, attraction and retention of staff, and broader geographical and social challenges.
The research and the development of this Framework emphasises the need to think differently, innovate and enable collaboration.

Project products

Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2022-038
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Valuing WA smaller commercial fisheries across the supply chain

This study aimed to produce information about the economic contribution of the supply chain of selected small-scale fisheries in Western Australia (WA), as well as a method that can be applied to making these estimates for other fisheries. Substantial research has been completed to estimate the...
ORGANISATION:
BDO EconSearch

Women in Seafood Australasia - Understanding, supporting and promoting effective participation by women within the Australian seafood industry

Project number: 2018-174
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $201,500.00
Principal Investigator: Heidi J. Mumme
Organisation: Women in Seafood Australasia (WISA)
Project start/end date: 19 Sep 2019 - 19 Sep 2021
Contact:
FRDC

Need

A comprehensive and wide ranging understanding of the current levels of engagement of women in the seafood sector will provide a valuable and ongoing resource to the wider seafood sector to increase women's engagement and participation.

To support and promote the value of fully engaged women participating effectively and helping to secure the future viability of the Australian seafood industry WISA needs to build critical skills of seafood women, delivered in a way that is accessible to them and encourages participation from rural and regional areas. This is particularly important for women under 30.

Researching (nationally and internationally) and better understanding the value of having greater diversity within seafood enterprises, associations, research agencies, at senior management, board and committee level will help WISA create an integrated online and offline skills development platform. The platform will need to be easily accessible by women, focused on the specific and particular needs of women and support and encourage greater participation by women in the seafood industry.

While there are resources available e.g e-leaders program there is a need for these resources to be reviewed and updated to target the specific needs of seafood women. Additionally, WISA needs to form strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships/alliances with other relevant organisations and networks and work with them to capitalise on opportunities provided through these partnerships.

Having skilled women is not sufficient to ensure that women are successful and effective contributors. It is also necessary to develop a specific pathway program for women to gain the confidence necessary to nominate and be selected for key management, board and committees. This will help seafood enterprises and organisations (industry, research and government) to increase diversity by enabling access to skilled women able to contribute to their success.

Objectives

1. 1 To create a baseline (quantitative and qualitative) against which progress and impact of WISA activities can be measured.
2. 2 To establish an online skills platform to provide access to training by women in rural and regional areas that will support greater diversity in seafood enterprises, research agencies and industry associations.
3. 3. To deliver the Women in Seafood Pathways program targeting at least 15 graduates initially.
4. To establish a communications and extension program to highlight the roles of women in seafood and the value diversity provides to the seafood industry and community.

Final report

Authors: Kirsten Abernethy Heidi Mumme and Karen Holder
Final Report • 2022-10-01 • 1.13 MB
2018-174-DLD.pdf

Summary

This FRDC project, Understanding, supporting and promoting effective participation by women in the Australian seafood industry, was pivotal for WISA in supporting its future direction as an organisation. Research undertaken showcased the significance of the roles and contributions of seafood women and exposed the structural and cultural barriers faced by women in the industry. The provision of a bespoke entry level leadership program for women using an online format has provided WISA with greater understanding of the professional development needs of seafood women and how to deliver these effectively. The popularity and success of communication and extension activities incorporated into three key events throughout the project, including presentations, panel sessions, webinars, workshops and networking events, met several objectives including: increasing industry recognition of the contributions of seafood women, highlighting the value inclusion and diversity provides to industry and communities, and identifying ways forward to shift structures and cultures impeding women’s participation and progression in the industry. Underpinned and supported by this project, WISA underwent a renewal including developing a strategic framework to deliver more to its members targeting the evidence-based needs of women in seafood, as well as transitioning to a new company structure which has resulted in a more effectively governed organisation.
Final Report • 2023-02-01 • 2.84 MB
2018-174-2-DLD.pdf

Summary

Women of the Australian Seafood Industry: Women’s contribution, their roles and what women need to succeed, reports the findings of the research component of the Women in Seafood Australasia (WISA) project: 2018-174 Understanding, supporting and promoting effective participation by women in the Australian seafood industry.
Women are an important component of the Australian seafood industry, present in every sector working in the supply chain and with the industry, and every organisation type. Until this project, Australia had little data on women’s contributions to the seafood industry and the roles women play. Furthermore, there was little industry-wide understanding of women’s experiences working in the Australian seafood industry, if and where there are inequalities and gendered differences in experiences, and where barriers lie to women fully participating and progressing in the industry.
This national project used a combination of data sources, including Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data, in depth key informant interviews, and an online survey, to reveal answers to these questions first asked by Women in Seafood Australasia twenty years ago.
Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-075
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Aquaculture-Community Futures: North West Tasmania

This report discusses a study conducted by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania on marine and costal wellbeing and how it can be considered in regional marine and coastal development decision making. The need for this project arose from a desire by selected...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2020-058
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Communications Program – Increasing community understanding, trust and acceptance for the Western Rock Lobster industry

The original intention of the Western Rock Lobster (WRL) Communications Program was to deliver its communications and engagement activities over four years from 2021 to 2025. However, as investigations progressed additional information about the communication and engagement needs of stakeholders...
ORGANISATION:
Western Rock Lobster Council Inc (WRLC)

Non-market values to inform decision-making and reporting in fisheries and aquaculture – an audit and gap analysis

Project number: 2018-068
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $118,293.91
Principal Investigator: Louisa Coglan
Organisation: Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Project start/end date: 3 Feb 2019 - 29 Jun 2020
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Most Australian fisheries policies require that fisheries management take account of the cumulative effect of all human users of marine resources, including professional, recreational and Indigenous Australian fishers. The triple bottom line (TBL) approach is the general framework used to assess performance against economic, social, and environmental dimensions. TBL requires articulation of these broad values, but these may be qualitatively assessed. Significant progress has been made in incorporating some of these elements into fisheries management decision, particularly prioritising different objectives of fishery management [e.g. 1, 2]. In some cases, development of semi-quantitative approaches have been used to assist in decision-making across these multiple dimensions [e.g. 3], including in some cases indigenous value [e.g. 4]. Recent research has also extended this focus to develop a robust articulation of Indigenous Australian customary fishing values to enable their inclusion when developing fisheries management policies [5].

Optimal decisions require the trade-off between costs and benefits to be considered. TBL approaches do not explicitly consider this trade-off, resulting in challenges in identifying optimal outcomes. Where these costs and benefits are expressed as explicit monetary values, assessing the trade-off requires deducting the expected costs from the expected benefits (commonly referred to as cost-benefit analysis (CBA)).

However, in fisheries, many costs and benefits do not have an explicit monetary value. Hence, decisions about the use and management of marine resources increasingly requires objective information on the non-market value of benefits (and costs). Some attention has been focused on the estimation of non-market values of recreational fishing [e.g. 6, 7], although only limited attempts to-date have been made to use these values in supporting management decision making [e.g. 8]. Many other values have not been quantified, and their use in fisheries management has not been fully explored.

Objectives

1. To support robust and defeasible evidence based decision-making in fisheries and aquaculture decision making that is understood and supported by key fisheries and aquaculture managers.
2. To provide managers with an understanding of the resources available to account for non-market values in fisheries and aquaculture decision making
3. To identify key research gaps and make recommendations related to the need for further empirical non-market valuation studies

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-925553-26-0
Authors: Louisa Coglan Sean Pascoe Gabriela Scheufele Samantha Paredes and Aimee Pickens
Final Report • 2021-03-19 • 3.77 MB
2018-068-DLD.pdf

Summary

This study examined the issues around non-market values requirements and identified potential sources of robust and defensible estimates of key values, including those generally viewed as difficult to measure.  
The project identified thirteen types of non-market values that fisheries and aquaculture managers considered as potentially important to their decision making. Of these, the top four involved values related to users of the fisheries resources, including fisher satisfaction, values to Indigenous Australian fishers, and the value of fish and experience to recreational fishers. The next four involved impacts of fishing on others, including habitats, species, local communities and other users of the marine environment.
The gap analysis identified that recent values for most of the values of potential use to fisheries and aquaculture management were unavailable. This limits the role of benefit transfers and identifies a need for further primary studies of non-market values.
Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2016-263
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Social and Economic Evaluation of the Victorian Wild-catch Seafood and Aquaculture Industry – STAGE 1

The FRDC Victorian Research Advisory Committee identified the need for a research project to measure the multiple social and economic contributions of the professional fishing and aquaculture sectors as an urgent and high priority. FRDC and the Human Dimensions Research (HDR) subprogram also...
ORGANISATION:
Seafood Industry Victoria Inc (SIV)
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