The potential use of underutilised species has been identified as a means of increasing the productivity and profitability of some fishing sectors, as such, jurisdictions continue to prioritise research that explores the viability of underutilised species as seafood and/or receives applications of this nature.

While the prospect of using fish that are readily available is attractive, there are likely to be numerous reasons why the fish are not currently exploited commercially. These reasons may be related to fishing processes, regulation, market perceptions, quality and supply chain arrangements.

Before investing additional funds in projects of this nature, FRDC requires an evaluation of past projects to determine the factors behind their success or failure. This analysis will then provide the basis for a decision matrix that can be used by project applicants and FRDC staff to design future projects.

It is not clear why there is a low market demand for seafood products derived form underutilized species. It is likely that provision of low cost, attractive seafood would create significant consumer interest, as has happened with basa. But it is unknown why the supply chain has not responded to this opportunity. More information about seafood demand is required from the seafood trading companies.

If a significant change to the emphasis of these projects is proposed by FRDC as a result of this study, a workshop will be needed to inform and consult with key stakeholders about the proposed changes.

The Tasmanian seafood industry operates in an exceptionally complex environment, with a diverse range of stakeholders who have input and influence over the decision making process. Furthermore, an increasing number of issues and challenges threaten the ongoing viability of the industry, notable examples include large scale harmful algal blooms on Tasmania's East Coast, community and industry acceptance of salmon expansion and political influence overriding a scientific evidence base. Industry associations and the volunteer Directors of such organisations are tasked with steering the Tasmanian seafood industry towards a sustainable and prosperous future. Fundamental to the success of seafood sector associations is sound governance, fiscal responsibility and strategy and risk preparedness. Directors of not-for-profit associations must clearly understand their role and legal obligations of being a Director, and their role in steering industry in a positive forward projection.

Governance, fiscal responsibility and strategy and risk preparedness are fundamental skills and knowledge that all Directors must be aware of and constantly reminded of, and it is important to provide volunteer Directors the opportunity to up-skill or re-skill in this important area. Noting that the Tasmanian Rock Lobster Fishemen's Association and Oysters Tasmania are about to finalise new Directors, it is timely that TSIC run professional development opportunities to support these and other sector association representatives.

The Australian Institute for Company Directors offer short, one day courses tailored to the Tasmanian seafood industry needs.

During a recent national Fisheries Statistics Working Group meeting, data managers from all Australian states highlighted and discussed the likely high prevalence of inaccurate or fraudulent data supplied by fishers and accrued through data-entry errors. Current data quality control measures in each jurisdiction are largely heterogeneous, undocumented and often rely on manual checks by clerks or analysts that are labour intensive and costly and not routinely executed. Because many of these checks occur during manual data entry of paper-based records, these are likely to become obsolete as reliance on electronic reporting increases, with data entered directly by fishers through online portals or mobile applications.

There is a need to develop automated data cleansing and diagnostic procedures that can be applied post-hoc or retrospectively to large fisheries databases to detect and flag errors and outliers and provide subsets of reliable catch and effort data for stock assessments and other analyses. This project will contribute towards addressing these issues, by developing automated processes to routinely assess newly entered fisheries catch and effort data for errors, retrospectively quantify error rates in existing data and assess their likely influence on the outputs of stock assessment analyses. The outcomes will help improve the quality and accuracy of catch and effort data used in routine stock assessments, and in turn lead to more sustainable management of wild capture fisheries resources.