Development of Fish Health Indicators for the Gladstone Harbour Report Card
Aquatic Animal Health and Biosecurity Coordination Program: strategic planning, project management and adoption
Australia’s aquatic animals are free from many diseases that occur overseas, providing us with a competitive advantage in both production and trade. Australian aquaculture has grown from an industry valued at AU$260 million in 1993 to an industry valued at AU$1.6 billion in 2020 (ABARES, 2021). This dramatic growth has been accompanied by the emergence of new diseases/infectious agents, e.g., NNV since 1989, Bonamia since 1992, OOD since 2006, OsHV since 2010, POMV since 2012, new YHV genotypes since 2013, PMMS since 2015 and WSD since 2016, all of which threaten the sustainability of major aquaculture enterprises. Consequently, the need for health research to support this expanding sector is also growing. The wild-harvest, recreational, Indigenous and ornamental sectors are also under threat; e.g., crayfish plague, Edwardsiella ictaluri in catfish, Perkinsus in oysters, WSD in crustacea and gourami iridovirus in a range of finfish species pose significant risks.
Thus, identification and prioritisation of aquatic animal health and biosecurity research and capacity building needs to be coordinated across all aquatic sectors to ensure synergy while avoiding duplication. FRDC, through AAHBRCP, plays a major role in addressing research needs and training in aquatic animal health and biosecurity and is able to direct funding priorities to the most pressing areas. AAHBRCP provides a cohesive national approach to FRDC-supported R&D by providing leadership, direction and focus for health R&D and other related non-R&D activities. According to an external review of AAHBRCP undertaken in 2015 the consensus among major stakeholders was that AAHBRCP provides an essential service for the aquatic animal sector. Given the success of the AAHBRCP there is a need to continue it as a means of providing the service with consideration given to adjustments (reflected in this proposal) to enhance the service it provides for the evolving needs of Australia’s seafood industry, public policy and program needs
FRDC communication of evidence-based information on the healthfulness and sustainability of seafood to Health Professionals
Tackle Box - Fishing at home during Covid 19
The ARFF Tackle Box project is funded through the ‘our marine parks’ grants funded by Parks Australia. The project aims to develop a recreational fishing app to collect data from scheduled recreational fishing competitions around Australia with the aim of being able to provide data on the interactions of recreational fishers with Australia’s Commonwealth Marine Parks. So far, the application has 1049 unique users, used for 9 fishing events, and has had data input for 1905 fish and 85 Photo only competition entries.
A real and meaningful opportunity exists for ARFF to lead the national recreational fishing community by introducing some simple retooling of the ARFF Tackle Box app and get on the front foot. There will be a push from some groups to keep people fishing but the reality is we need to be responsible right now. At this point, I think this is a moment FRDC can shine as well by supporting with funding as I am told there is considerable funds still available with the Rec Fish Research budget. Also, the government has subtly announced fiscal stimulus packages for sports and arts soon to keep the population engaged and there maybe potential to tap into both sporting/recreation and mental health funding. We have received offers of help to apply for these funding opportunities by professionals in these fields when they become available.
The proposal is to revise the current model and focus on the stash of data that exists already on people’s phones and keeping people engaged at home so that when the crisis passes, they are ready to go on our network. Capitalising on the low hanging fruit without fishers actively fishing and easily reach a user target of ten thousand people in a matter of weeks and potentially One hundred thousand users within 6 months without leaving home. This consists of 5 key elements:
• Fantasy/Photo only competition where people submit what they have on their phones from previous fishing trips before ARFF’s “quarantine at home/fish within the rules” policy came into effect.
• Community voting, engagement rather than “scoreboards”. It actively engages the community without the need to leave home.
• Keeping people connected with regular briefings and interactions with the states and regio
Final report
Recreational fishing and human wellbeing: insights from existing data and development of best practice approaches to future measurement
This project is needed as there are knowledge gaps about the effect of recreational fishing on the health and wellbeing of recreational fishers. Recent years have seen many claims about the health and wellbeing benefits of recreational fishing, as well as growing interest in nature connection and outdoor recreation as wellbeing interventions more generally. Measuring and valuing the wellbeing benefits of recreational fishing is not currently possible due to a lack of evidence, and limited methods for monitoring, measuring and reporting wellbeing effects. The FRDC’s RD&E Plan 2015-20 aims by 2020 to have robust community net benefit metrics that enable measurement of the benefits of fishing. This project will develop robust metrics related to health and wellbeing benefits of recreational fishing. Achieving this requires better understanding both (i) whether and under what circumstances engaging in recreational fishing has measurable impacts on health and wellbeing, and (ii) how to measure these benefits to produce readily accessible and understandable metrics. This will help achieve the FRDC’s national research strategy deliverable ‘Social contribution is supported by the fishing and aquaculture sector so it can capture the non-monetary value of activities across sectors.’ This work will also contribute to national science and research priorities in the health field, specifically the priority ‘Build healthy and resilient communities throughout Australia by developing … preventative strategies to improve physical and mental well-being’ (http://www.science.gov.au/scienceGov/ScienceAndResearchPriorities/Pages/Health.aspx). Nationally, this research priority aims to develop strategies for supporting wellbeing. This project contributes by identifying the role recreational fishing can play in building healthy and resilient communities through supporting physical and mental wellbeing. This research will also contribute to the overarching aims of Australia’s rural research, development and extension strategy, which include ‘develop a range of technologies and knowledge to contribute to healthy Australian lifestyles’ (http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/ag-food/innovation2/nsrrdip-investment-plan1.pdf)