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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.

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

Assessing the biosecurity risk of uncooked whole and eviscerated barramundi and grouper in relation to exotic viruses

Project number: 2019-126

Project Status:

Completed

Budget expenditure: $69,279.00

Principal Investigator: Matthew A. Landos

Organisation: Future Fisheries Veterinary Service Pty Ltd (FFVS)

Project start/end date: 19 Apr 2020 - 28 Feb 2021

Contact:

FRDC

TAGS

Need

The Australian farmed Barramundi is estimated at over $37.1 million AUD with a production of over 3,772 tonnes annually (Savage, 2015). The value of the wild-catch sector was estimated to be $9.9 million AUD with 1,073 tonnes produced (Savage, 2015). These sectors of the industry as well as recreational and Indigenous fishers, are all at risk of being exposed to hazards potentially introduced by imported Barramundi and grouper products, which could pose significant consequences. The Australian Federal Department of Agriculture does not consider there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the import conditions for uncooked barramundi do not effectively manage the risk of pests and diseases of concern arriving in Australia. Until further evidence is generated to demonstrate that importation of uncooked barramundi products poses a risk that exceeds Australia's Appropriate Level of Protection, then regulatory actions to mitigate these perceived biosecurity risks are unlikely to be implemented. Risk mitigation requirements for importation of whole farmed barramundi include that the exporting country must, among other things, declare it has in place health surveillance and monitoring and that the fish were not derived from a population slaughtered as an official disease control measure. However, this self-declaration is not supported by rigorous testing to ensure compliance. There are current and have been no previous protocols in place to test for the target iridoviruses in imported barramundi and grouper product, so the efficacy of the existing import controls has not been subject to assessment at retail level. Sampling at retail outlets of uncooked whole and eviscerated barramundi and grouper commodities is proposed in order to better assess the efficacy of import conditions. This project will focus on determining the presence or absence of exotic virus genetic material in imported uncooked potential high risk barramundi and grouper commodity. Should any positive genetic material be detected confirmatory re-testing will be performed in order to reduce the risk of a false positive PCR test result and a subsequent project will be prepared o

Objectives

1. To determine the presence of Red sea bream iridovirus (RSIV), Infectious Spleen and Kidney Necrosis Virus (ISKNV), Scale drop syndrome virus (SDSV) and Singapore Grouper Iridovirus (SGIV) in high risk imported uncooked barramundi and grouper collected from seafood retail outlets throughout Australia, using PCR.

2. Review of imported uncooked barramundi and grouper commodity types and relevance to current import risk assessment and published literature.

Final report

ISBN: 9781639441143

Authors: Matt A. Landos James Fensham Paul Hick Alison Tweedie Jo-Anne Ruscoe

Final Report • 2021-10-01 • 3.42 MB

2019-126-DLD.pdf

Summary

Presently, the Australian Barramundi farming industry enjoys freedom from numerous internationally significant diseases including all from the Megalocytivirus genus of iridoviruses. These diseases are known to be causing severe impacts on farmed Barramundi and other species in southeast Asia and elsewhere. Australia’s biosecurity system is the primary barrier to keep such disease risks offshore. The importation of Barramundi and other finfish commodities for human consumption from countries where these diseases have been reported had not been fully assessed as a risk pathway for disease incursion prior to this project.

PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-152

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

Social Matters Workshop

The project brought together Australian seafood industry social scientists for the first time ever in a specific and dedicated meeting, to discuss our identity, our role in governance, our past and our future. The Social Matters workshop ran over two days and involved 20 scholars, researchers and...

ORGANISATION:

Deakin University Geelong Waterfront Campus

TAGS

Stakeholder

Human Dimensions Research

Capacity Building

PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-141

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

New tools to assess visual fish health

In 2018 Infofish Australia Pty Ltd undertook a trial in Gladstone Harbour using machine learning tools to assess photos for fish health issues. The project was commissioned by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) and the Gladstone Healthy Harbour...

ORGANISATION:

Infofish Australia Pty Ltd

TAGS

Innovation

Community

Automation

Artificial Intelligence

SPECIES