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“Futures of Seafood” is an 18th month multi-disciplinary study co-designed with industry and government. It will draw from existing data, complementary work underway or concluded, and importantly will involve a suite our outputs that can be used by a variety of stakeholders in formats that are fit for purpose.

The study will provide a contemporary description on the state of play of Australia’s seafood system, the supply chain, markets and its reach into communities. It will identify and report on trends, insights, forecasts and cumulative impacts that are impacting (positive and negative) the industry. It will include the first in-depth spatial and descriptive profile of the seafood industry by sector and jurisdiction through spatial mapping and productivity reporting since Marine Matters in 2003. Beyond seafood, it will also identify, describe and map other ocean uses (new, emerging and transitioning), including assumptions about current growth plans / policies / rights completed / taken up, looking towards 2040.

Drawing from information collated, the study will include scenario modelling to model and scrutinise the cumulative impacts of these trends and produce associated impact reporting against productivity and sustainability (social, economic, environmental and governance) metrics for a series of ten scenarios.

It will synthesise the study findings, as well as curate across other studies underway or completed, to develop a series of industry-specific assets (reports, tools, frameworks and systems) that aim to improve knowledge and support ongoing participation in the ocean estate policy conversation. This includes supporting priority contemporary frameworks to support transitions to future states and de-risking industry/sectors.

‘Futures of Seafood’ will support a shared understanding of the potential pathways and opportunities that lie ahead for Australia’s seafood stakeholders during this time of rapid change and transformation. It will furthermore provide a foundation for industry, Government and policy makers to make better decisions, navigate changes, and ensure industry and stakeholders are well-equipped to adapt and hopefully flourish in a dynamic environment.

This study and its intended outputs are consistent with and seeks to promote action against local, national, and global strategic initiatives, including those of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the Biodiversity Framework within the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Paris Declaration, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and associated Forward Faster Initiative.

WORK PACKAGE SUMMARY

In short, this is a novel study that describes, maps and models the spatial, economic and social impacts of Government targets and decisions, provides evidence-based insights and charts a course for Australia’s futures of seafood alongside other ocean uses for the coming 10-15 years.

It will be delivered through a series of four work packages. These are founded on an enduring data collation platform, undertaken by a series of expert commissions and overseen and supported by a strong and inclusive governance framework.

Work Package 1: State of Play
• Identify data system to support mapping and describing the current state of the industries/sectors – i.e. locations, GVP, employment, production, jurisdiction input/output.
• Identify social and economic values i.e. contribution to regional communities, nutrition + value of supply chain.
• Deliver a contemporary description on the building blocks and state of play of Australia's ocean food system, its supply chain and markets alongside the other uses of the ocean estate.
• Investigate and report the trends, forecasts and cumulative impacts (positive and negative) on Australia's seafood industry. i.e. Nutritional security; spatial squeeze; working in a changing climate i.e. resilience, adaptation, emergency response; Industry transitions i.e. decarbonisation; Jurisdiction i.e. policy/strategy, production v consumption; Workforce + training; Nature based solutions & investment, sustainable food systems i.e. ESG and sustainability

Work Package 2: Future Estate
• Map and overlay impacts of new and emerging transitioning industries in the ocean estate.
• Identify and describe the trends, forecasts and cumulative impacts affecting the seafood industry.
• Map/measure/describe the implications of trends, forecasts and cumulative impacts of these industries and impacts (positive and negative) on Australia's seafood industry.
• Describe other uses of the ocean estate.

Work Package 3: Scenario Modelling
• Design and develop tool to test future state scenarios for commercial, recreational and indigenous fishing.
• Undertake a series of impact scenario examples: i.e. spatial squeeze/crowded ocean, a changing climate, a regulatory reset, sector case studies and cumulative pressures.
• Use the scenarios to deliver impact reporting on productivity, nutrition and sustainability metrics to include: spatial mapping, heat maps, regulatory options, socio-economic attributes, community sentiment, nutrition, consumer and market impacts and opportunities.

Work Package 4: Synthesis
• Synthesis of research from WPs into a complete report and communications assets.
• Develop a Futures of Seafood Roadmap to navigate the likely impacts of the futures scenarios.

Governance Framework
• This collaboration will bring together leaders from industry sectors and government portfolios of agriculture, energy and environment.
• A strong and inclusive governance model is proposed to capture the breadth of stakeholders and ensure oversight of the study, strategic relevance and timely input from data and information contributors.
• Oversight Committee
• Industry + Community Advisory Committee
• Government Advisory Committee
• WP Technical Teams + Data Management & Communications Teams
• Terms of Reference for each committee with be established.

Project Management
• This will be supported by a mature project administration system, drawing from the Blue Economy project management system, a governance model and also an independent project evaluator to undertake assurance and integrity of program logic and models.

The FRDC Communications team has identified a need to engage with our research partners in more frequent and positive ways. Through discussions between FRDC's research and investment team and FRDC's stakeholder engagement team, it was decided that Seafood Directions 2024 and 2026 provided an excellent opportunity as an event platform to engage with our research partners to build capability and capacity.

EVENT
The FRDC FishTank campaign has been created to help researchers undertaking FRDC projects communicate their research outputs in creative and engaging ways. The FishTank campaign will encourage our research partners to think more deeply about the way they communicate their research and provide training for them to develop engaging and creative research presentations that will be delivered at Seafood Directions 2024. The costs of the FishTank campaign will be covered by FRDC and include professional presentation training by Scientell to advance the finalists’ research communications skills in unique and innovative ways. The aim of this project is to help researchers develop innovative presentations that will boost audience engagement and help extend the research to other relevant audiences, after Seafood Directions. In discussion and agreement with the FRDC Research Portfolio Managers, FRDC FishTank finalists may be able to use their Seafood Directions FishTank presentation to replace a milestone report from their FRDC Project.

The FishTank campaign will help build communication capability and capacity to enable change in the way research is presented and perceived. Participants supported by a 2024 Seafood Directions bursary or similar (including NSILP, ARLP, or Nuffield) will not be eligible to receive travel assistance via this project. Recipients of a 2024 FishTank bursary will not be eligible for 2026 FishTank bursaries.

PROCESS
Prior to the FishTank campaign being announced, an EDM (see EDM and other communication outputs in attached Strategic Plan Seafood Directions 2024 FRDC FishTank), will be sent to all FRDC current Principal Investigators, inviting them to submit a pitch video to FRDC for a chance to be part of this project. The EDM will outline the pitch video requirements, i.e. Researchers to provide a 3 to 5-minute ‘mock-up’ presentation pitch, which showcases at least three different innovative and creative communication executions (e.g. pictures, video, animations, props).

The group of individuals who can assess all applications throughout the entire process includes:
- Crispian Ashby (GM Research and Investment)
- Chris Izzo (Senior Research Portfolio Manager)
- Deepika Satchithananthan (Research Portfolio Manager)
- Ben Jones (Research Portfolio Manager)
- Kylie Dunstan (GM Stakeholder Engagement)
- Sally Roberts (C&C Portfolio Manager)
- Sue Rana (Corporate Affairs Manager)

PI’s will have four weeks from the first EDM being sent out to submit their applications. The selection panel will have two weeks to assess all applications. All applicants will be notified if they were successful or not. FRDC’s Managing Director, Patrick Hone, may also record a video snippet, that could be attached and promoted to PIs through the EDM. This could be part of two follow-up EDM’s sent prior to the public FishTank campaign announcement.

PROCESS FOR FRDC FISHTANK FINALISTS
After assessing and determining the six successful pitches, applicants will be notified followed by a an EDM outlining:
- Allocated budget $4,000 pp (up to $2,000 AUD for travel/accommodation & $2,000 AUD for materials)
- Training information (who the provider is, the dates & the format [online or in-person] - PI’s will be given 4 weeks to do this training.
- The email will also provide instructions on how to finalise their successful bursary application in fishnet. Each researcher will enter into an individual bursary agreement, so that FRDC can pay their bursary.

The bursary agreement will also stipulate that successful researchers will engage with bursary finalists for 12 months after Seafood Directions to provide guidance on future similar initiatives.

TRAINING INFORMATION
Principal Investigators will be asked to work with Scientell to complete a science presentation training program. This offer can be extended to a member of the PI’s project team. However, if they extend this offer to a project team member only this person can present as a finalist at FRDC FishTank. A PI and a research team member cannot BOTH complete the training, it can only be undertaken by one person within a project team.

BUDGET SUMMARY
Accommodation and travel up to $2,000 x 6 = $12,000
Material Cost up to $2,000 x 6 = $12,000
Training budget = $6,000
Contingency (~8-10%) = $2,500
Budget = $32,500 per event (SD 2024 and SD 2026 - 2 total)

NOTE: see a more in-depth plan and link to all communication outputs in an attached document to this application, called Strategic Plan Seafood Directions 2024 FRDC FishTank