This project seeks to position the NT seafood industry to have a clear understanding of suitable and cost effective, valued systems and processes for adoption. It is the critical first step required to aid a shift in the behaviour and culture from a government driven data collection process for legislative purposes, to a process that is trusted and valued by industry to deliver data insights beyond regulatory requirements. As a result, it will help position the NT wild harvest and aquaculture sectors with securing access, investment and development opportunities.

Current negotiations for access to Aboriginal-owned tidal waters have reached a critical point. A gap exists in understanding what level of industry adjustment might be required to ensure Indigenous investment in the industry is not unnecessarily impacted. Better understanding the full value of the NT seafood industry to the NT community could assist with all strategic decisions related to Blue Mud Bay negotiations, infrastructure investments – and help support investment in the industry going forward.

Without a plan to enhance the visibility of the wider socio-economic value and benefits of our industry, we will continue to face increasing pressure on our social licence to operate – which has the potential to impact all aspects of the local industry, including access, industry structure and increased fees. It will also limit our ability to identify the best opportunities for future growth and sustainability.

Further, there is limited availability of current financial and economic information for our individual NT wild harvest fisheries and sector specific aquaculture activities. Due to this lack of information there is little scope for economic analysis, hence limiting opportunities for providing advice to policy and decision makers.

Australian Standards have status and are recognised as best practice, but are not legal documents. However, a Government can reference a standard in legislation and it becomes mandatory.
AS 5300 is not yet mandated in Australia, but is listed in the FSANZ Standard 2.2.3 - Fish and Fish Products as an advisory note (https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2011C00569 ) and AS 5301, is not reference anywhere.

Both SRB's recognise and industry stakeholder groups, recognise the standards must be mandated within FSANZ or other appropriate legislation. It is key that legislation covers the complete supply chain including food service, for the Standards to become fully effective. Further communication and extension of the required to support better adoption. Through this project, we will continue to articulate the need for the standards to become consumer law, whilst also advocating for further industry adoption of the standards.

The use of standard names achieves outcomes that are consistent with the aims of the seafood industry and Government:
1. Improved monitoring and stock assessment enhances the sustainability of fisheries resources.
2. Increased consistency and efficiency in seafood marketing to improve consumer confidence and industry profitability.
3. Improved accuracy and consistency in trade descriptions enables consumers to make more informed choices when purchasing seafood and reduces the potential for misleading and deceptive conduct.
4. More efficient management of seafood related public health incidents and food safety through improved labelling and species identification.

FNC undertook a stakeholder survey (Attachment1), with the key net benefits considered to be: consistency, integrity, transparency, improved management of food fraud and food safety and strengthening public, consumer and stakeholder confidence of the industry. These net benefits align with the FRDC's Fish forever 2030 vision and R & D Plan 2020-25; with strong relevance to Strategy V: Provide foundational information and support services; and Outcome 5: Community, trust, respect and value.
Attachment 2 & 3: Letters of support and net benefits summary show for further support of the Standards.

Abundance estimates are used both directly and indirectly in stock assessment processes to support fishery management. Australia’s fisheries research agencies all estimate fish population abundance in some way. These include genetic and conventional tagging, acoustics (active and passive), trawl and egg surveys, as well as using proxies of abundance such as catch. Each of these methods have benefits, biases and caveats linked to the method and to the fish species being assessed. For example, differences between life history and habitat can make an abundance estimation method that has worked for one species unsuitable for another. As the application of each method of estimating abundance is potentially species/scenario specific, potential use by researchers and managers can be fraught.

In developing or proposing an abundance estimate for use in fisheries assessment, researchers must have a clear understanding of the assessment framework in order to make sure that an abundance estimate can be used. Claims such as “this time series can then be used in stock assessment” must be verified by funding agencies (particularly beyond FRDC) and defensible. Proliferation of abundance estimation methods without links to the assessment process will not yield an expected benefit beyond knowledge accumulation.

A project is needed to capture the range of methods of estimating abundance for management purposes, and specify the conditions of use, limitations and readiness level for operational use. A decision tree and methods ‘toolbox’ that describes the techniques, their relative strengths and weaknesses will help researchers and managers identify the best suited abundance estimate approach, and guide research effort to overcome known weaknesses.

The development of a ‘toolbox’ of techniques would be used to inform:
1. techniques available to estimate abundance
2. suitability of them to different conditions such as life history, and data availability
3. requirements of the technique such as methods used, prerequisite expertise, data and cost; and
4. circumstances under which the technique can be used.
This project would also identify potential new approaches and technologies that might complement or replace current ones.

The operating environment within which Australian fisheries and aquaculture are positioned is complex, comprising economic, social and political institutions and organisations that are continuously being re-shaped by multiple external and internal drivers.

Addressing these specific drivers requires understanding of the human dimensions of fisheries and aquaculture, along with the biophysical. Human dimensions refers to the social, economic and cultural factors that affect outcomes for both the seafood community and in terms of public good. This includes the attitudes, processes and behaviours of individual people, companies, management agencies, communities, organisations, consumers, and markets. Human dimensions research has been successfully applied to understand how to enable better outcomes for Australia's fisheries and aquaculture (e.g. improved social acceptability, resilience through shocks, inclusive growth, economic productivity), and what are the effective strategies to achieve this (e.g. market based mechanisms, behavioural approaches). It brings together research capability from a broad range of disciplines.

Historically, achieving the level of coordinated investment required to effectively deliver against this need has been hampered by a range of factors, which have included:
• effective integration of human dimensions RD&E with biophysical sciences; and
• research capability and expertise capable of undertaking such research to ensure end user needs are met.

The FRDC has invested substantively in human dimensions R&D capability in recognition of this need. Ongoing coordination and strategic development of human dimensions R&D activities will support the FRDC to deliver its Fish Forever 2030 vision: Collaborative, vibrant fishing and aquaculture, creating diverse benefits from aquatic resources, and celebrated by the community.

The FRDC considers Coordination Programs as critical to delivering relevant outcomes of the R&D Plan. With respect to Human Dimensions, it is evident that a planned R&D outcome can be achieved more successfully if expertise and related activities are developed and managed in a coordinated manner.

The SeSAFE project has to date focused on raising safety awareness and the development/delivery of safety training modules. This is a response to current inadequacies in safety training in the fishing and aquaculture industry.

It is now timely for SeSAFE to address other inadequacies in safety training by:

• Filling the gap that allows new crew to step foot on a dangerous work platform before receiving any safety training
• Providing consistent safety training content to all fishers nationwide
• Promoting SeSAFE as the industry benchmark in pre-sea safety training, that also serves to demonstrate achievement towards duty-of-care requirements
• Developing a standard of achievement and certificate of completion, for use as a recognised industry standard and potential requirement for employment at sea
• Overcoming jurisdictional inconsistencies and inadequacies in safety training
• Developing fishery-specific modules for multiple fisheries, to complement onboard safety inductions
• Extending SeSAFE training to seafood processors, fishery observers, and others
• Establishing a secure funding base to ensure persistent, long-term delivery of SeSAFE training as well as a permanent hosting organisation, e.g. Seafood Industry Australia.

There is also a need to continue existing SeSAFE activities because:

• Many fishers and others are anticipating recurrent safety training
• SeSAFE is one of the few sources of fishery-specific safety training, such as safe handling of fishing gear
• It will leverage progress and momentum toward improved safety performance, which may otherwise be foregone
• Several agencies, e.g. the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, are poised to use SeSAFE to provide safety training
• SeSAFE training means individuals can avoid group training sessions and reduce the risk of Covid 19 infection.

SeSAFE training responds to Objective 3 of FRDC’s National RD&E Seafood Industry Safety Initiative Strategic Plan 2019/21, 'Increase uptake by industry of workplace safety and safety training programs and education tools', by serving the education component of the Strategic Plan.