148 results

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.
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-091
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Non-Market Impact Valuation for Fisheries RD&E (Phase I)

This report, titled ‘Non-Market Impact Valuation for Fisheries RD&E – Phase I: An Investigation and Gap Analysis of Non-Market Impact Valuation Studies for Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture RD&E’, presents the findings of the first stage of a process to assess and...
ORGANISATION:
Agtrans Research

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.

Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2020-088
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Quantifying inter-sectoral values within and among the Indigenous, commercial and recreational sectors

This study explored the extent to which values are shared (or not shared) by fishers across three key sectors (i.e., Indigenous, commercial and recreational). The study was run online using Q-Method Software (https://qmethodsoftware.com), a semi-quantitative technique used to explore human...
ORGANISATION:
Natural Capital Economics
Communities
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-106
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Minor use permit for oxytetracycline in non-salmonid finfish

There are no registered or permitted antimicrobial products approved by the Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicine Authority (APVMA) for treatment of bacterial infections in finfish. This project developed an application for a minor-use permit (MUP) for the use of oxytetracycline (OTC) to...
ORGANISATION:
University of Adelaide

Measuring non-commercial fishing catches (traditional fishing) in the Torres Strait in order to improve fisheries management and promote sustainable livelihoods

Project number: 2022-045
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $234,002.20
Principal Investigator: Natasha Stacey
Organisation: Charles Darwin University (CDU)
Project start/end date: 28 Nov 2022 - 27 Jun 2024
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Following the initial groundwork to assess community support and approaches for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program in the Torres Strait (Bedford et al 2021 - https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_monitoring_the_non-commercial_catch_in_torres_strait_update_06042021.pdf ), the following five steps were proposed:
1. Community consultation and sign on (engaging community re support for the suggested monitoring method).
2. Assess self-reporting web-based tool/APP platform design and development options (including data collection and storage options), through co-design with communities and Government to meet stakeholder needs.
3. Develop self-reporting web-based tool/APP platform, database and data flow infrastructure.
4. Community rollout – pilot (in some communities).
5. Community rollout – full-scale (to all communities).

The Torres Strait Scientific Advisory Committee (TSSAC) recommended that steps 1 and 2 (above) be undertaken first and they form the scope of this proposal.

As also noted in the TSSAC committee meeting of June 2021, the project was an initiative of the quota working group subcommittee of the Torres Strait Regional Authority Board, and identified as a priority by the Traditional Inhabitants (https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/tssac_79_meeting_record_final.pdf). In particular, by ‘improving estimates of non-commercial catch of commercial species to inform stock assessment and set sustainable catch levels, as well as determine the catch sharing between the sunset sector, and how much to allocate for community consumption, in order to protect Traditional non-commercial catches and help ensure sustainable management.’

As noted in the ‘Opportunity’ section of this proposal, this project help fill a range of needs for Torres Strait communities, including:
• More accurate assessment of the Recommended Biological Catches of commercial species from all sources of fishing in the Torres Strait
• Reliable assessments of ongoing catches from the substantial non-commercial sectors in the Torres Strait, including knowledge of future change in catches that may be due to pressures from fishing, coastal industry, climate change, other ecosystem regime change
• Stronger ownership of marine resource management by Torres Strait communities, including ownership of non-commercial catch information, and supported by improved knowledge of the temporal and spatial dynamics of non-commercial catches.

The previous project also concluded that a non-commercial fishery monitoring program would have the best chance of success by gaining broad and committed acceptance by local communities and their leaders, with a strong co-design component. The need for this level of consultation was re-iterated by Traditional Inhabitants in several PZJA fishery management fora, including the TSSAC. This project is designed to meet that need.

The proposed project aligns strongly with the Torres Strait Fisheries Strategic Research Plan (https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/tssac_srp_2018-2022_post_tssac_final.pdf). In particular:
• Theme 1: Protecting the Torres Strait marine environment for the benefit of Traditional Inhabitants; which is based on improving effective management of fishery stocks in order to support Traditional Inhabitant social and economic needs; which is an expectation of the improved fishery data outputs from the project.
• Theme 2: Social and Economic Benefits; which promotes social and economic benefits for Traditional Inhabitants from Torres Strait fisheries; for example, through increased capacity required to manage the program and increased knowledge of any future changes in catches through space and time in the Torres Strait.
• Theme 3: Technology and Innovation; which promotes the development of technology to support the economic, environmental and social benefits from the fishing sector.

This research project is co funded by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority of the Australian Government. Project co- investigators are Kenny Bedford, David Brewer and Timothy Skewes.

Objectives

1. Collate and review existing and new information about the potential options for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program as recommended by Bedford et al. (2021)
2. Assess the level of community need and support (or otherwise) for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program through a comprehensive and equitable community consultation and participation process throughout Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area communities
3. Develop cost and performance options for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program and its components (e.g. self-reporting web-based tool/APP platform
data management, storage and access
complimented surveys) to allow for an assessment of value (e.g. meeting needs, ease of use, maintenance and data use in stock assessments)

Final report

Authors: Kenny Bedford David Brewer Timothy Skewes and Natasha Stacey
Final Report • 2024-12-31 • 4.61 MB
2022-045-DLD.pdf

Summary

Traditional fishing in the Torres Strait Region has, and continues to be, important for livelihood sustainability for all Torres Strait Islander communities, providing a source of kai kai or food, nutrition and other social, cultural and spiritual benefits. Protection of the marine environment and maintenance of traditional activities, such as traditional fishing, are key pillars of the Torres Strait Treaty (1985).  

The long-term sustainability of all fisheries in the Torres Strait region requires reliable catch data from all sectors, including commercial and non-commercial (traditional and recreational). This data is not only a priority for managing key commercial species, such as Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson), coral trout (Plectropomus spp) and Tropical (Ornate) Rock Lobster (Panulirus ornatus), also caught by traditional and recreational sectors, but also for the many other traditionally fished species that communities rely on. Commercial fisheries have management programs in place and data contributes to assessments that are central to management decisions. However, fish catches from the traditional and recreational fishery sectors are largely unquantified, except for some historic snapshot surveys and are either currently not monitored, or only in a very limited way. Torres Strait Islanders have expressed concern for their traditional fisheries and the need to protect them to ensure food security needs. Monitoring traditional fishing catches from both traditional and recreational fishing sectors has also been identified as a high priority in numerous Protected Zone Joint Authority (PZJA) fisheries committees over recent years. This project aimed to contribute knowledge to support a future monitoring program to address these data gaps. 

The project presents two primary recommendations. The first applies to the development and support of a pilot program for a bespoke traditional fishing app in the Torres Strait (separate from the recreational fishery program); and the second, to support concurrent promotion of the Queensland Government recreational fishing monitoring app (currently using the Qld fishing 2.0 app) program to monitor the Torres Strait recreational fishery. 

Project products

Fact Sheet • 2024-12-31 • 7.63 MB
2022-045-Indigenous App-Torres Strait-FactSheet A4-PRINT VERSION.pdf

Summary

This Fact Sheet supplements the FRDC Final Report '2022-045 Measuring non-commercial fishing catches (traditional fishing) in the Torres Strait to improve fisheries management and promote sustainable livelihoods'. It is a summary of what the project is about; key findings; principles and best practice approaches for app development; and recommendations. There are two versions of this Fact Sheet: (i) Print version and (ii) web version.
Fact Sheet • 2024-12-31 • 2.17 MB
2022-045-FactSheet-WEB.pdf

Summary

This Fact Sheet supplements the FRDC Final Report '2022-045 Measuring non-commercial fishing catches (traditional fishing) in the Torres Strait to improve fisheries management and promote sustainable livelihoods'. It is a summary of what the project is about; key findings; principles and best practice approaches for app development; and recommendations. There are two versions of this Fact Sheet: (i) Print version and (ii) Web version.
View Filter

Species

Organisation