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Building on the circularity discussions and work being undertaken by FRDC and the industry, this project seeks to undertake the legwork required to establish a nationwide on-demand End of life (EOL) fishing gear recovery system for Australia and pilot it in key locations. The materials that many nets and ropes are made of are highly valuable and recyclable and in fact in many other countries, is already being recycled or remanufactured. Until now, having a national system has been cost prohibitive due to the large distances and need for economies of scale and limited local buyer interest. As a part of the national targets set by the Australian Government relating to plastics use and recycling, commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors have been exploring how to move to a circular economy model and reduce plastic inputs through a variety of projects run by FRDC and others. However, with fishing gear the biggest plastic polymer input, and contamination challenges, there has yet to be a suitable system established.

This project seeks to enable the opportunities that addressing EOL gear provides in Australia to the commercial fishing and aquaculture sector through the establishment of an effective EOL fishing gear recovery system for the country to reduce the landfill costs to industry. It seeks to build on the learnings from previous projects as well as the ten years of experience of our partner Bureo has in in operating an EOL fishing gear recovery program. Bureo currently have an EOL gear recovery system active in 9 countries.

The key objectives are:
● By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system implemented across key fishing ports, and key aquaculture centres benefiting regional communities and fisheries conservation and assisting the Australian Government to address plastic recovery/recycling targets.
● By the end of 2024, the enabling environment for an effective and fit for purpose EOL fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system is in place within Australia, with commencement of recycling underway in key pilot locations.

Objectives

1. By March 2025 the feasibility of and logistical requirements are understood to establish a national end of life recovery system for commercial fishing and aquaculture gear in Australia and an enabling pathway for roll out created.

2. By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system for Australia implemented across at least 5 key fishing ports, with measurable benefits being delivered to regional communities, industry, conservation, while contributing towards the Australian Government’s recycling targets.

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

TAGS

Workforce

Leadership

Capacity Building

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

Report • 2024-06-01 • 7.34 MB

2022-153-Capability_Framework.pdf

Summary

FRDC Workforce Capability Framework

PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-097

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

Reducing bycatch using modifications to sweeps and lines anterior to the trawl mouth - collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark

Prawn trawling is among the world's least selective fishing methods and there has been a great deal of work done over the past few decades to develop modifications that reduce unwanted bycatches. Much of this work has focussed on modifications at, or near, the codend (at the aft section) of trawls,...

ORGANISATION:

IC Independent Consulting Pty Ltd

TAGS

SPECIES

PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-012

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

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This research project aimed to develop an engagement strategy that would assist the Southeast Queensland (SEQ) wild catch commercial fishing industry to gain social acceptance, or a Social Licence to Operate (SLO). SLO is needed to maintain access to the resource and market confidence. A scan of...

ORGANISATION:

University of the Sunshine Coast (USC)

TAGS

Wild Catch

Survey

Stakeholder

Resource Access And Allocation

SPECIES

PROJECT NUMBER • 2020-084

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

An audit of plastic use in the fishing and aquaculture sectors

ORGANISATION:

Equilibrium OMG Pty Ltd

TAGS

PROJECT NUMBER • 2016-251

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

Market study to assist target seafood marketing campaign to restore consumer confidence after Hunter River fishing closure due to contamination

In early September 2015 the discovery of a chemical contamination around the Williamtown RAAF base in the NSW Hunter Valley was made public The NSW Environment Protection Authority warned that chemicals perfluorooctane sulfonate ( and perfluorooctanoic acid ( had been found in surface...

ORGANISATION:

Intuitive Solutions

TAGS

PROJECT NUMBER • 2020-067

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

SeSAFE – Delivering Industry Safety through Electronic Learning

This project aimed to improve safety performance in the fishing and aquaculture industry, establishing a foundation for future development and training of a greater number of crew on a regular basis.

ORGANISATION:

Smart Fishing Consulting

TAGS

PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-231

PROJECT STATUS:

CURRENT

To develop a national marine safety extension resource toolkit and to trial with all fisheries jurisdictions

ORGANISATION:

Taylored Health and Safety Pty Ltd

TAGS

PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-065

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

Disseminating existing bycatch reduction and fuel efficiency technologies throughout Australia's prawn fisheries

Prawn trawling is among the world's least selective fishing methods, the unintended consequence being large quantities of bycatch. It is also a method that can disturb benthic habitats and use large quantities of fuel—a significant running cost for many fisheries. Issues of bycatch and fuel...

ORGANISATION:

IC Independent Consulting Pty Ltd

TAGS

SPECIES

PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-087

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

Maximising the value of the NSW Longfin Eel catch through a whole of supply chain approach - Stage 1

Following a dramatic drop in demand for live wild-caught eels (Longfin Eel, Anguilla Reinhardtii) to be exported from NSW to China, fishing efforts have significantly reduced, and the fishery is now classed as underutilised. At the same time, there is a global shortage of eels, with demand...

ORGANISATION:

Honey and Fox Pty Ltd

TAGS

SPECIES