74 results
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2022-021
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Review of approaches for determining commercial fisheries compensation

The report discusses challenges in compensating fishers for giving up their fishing rights, particularly in small-scale commercial fisheries. These challenges include lack of transparency, data issues, timing problems, and mistrust. Based on past experiences, the report recommends several...
ORGANISATION:
Synergies Economic Consulting

Fishing and Aquaculture Workforce Capability Framework

Project number: 2022-153
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $127,997.50
Principal Investigator: Deborah C. Prentice
Organisation: RM Consulting Group (RMCG)
Project start/end date: 2 May 2023 - 7 Mar 2024
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The objective of this foundational work is to collaborate with industry to produce a Fishing and Aquaculture Workforce Capability Framework. The Framework will be used by fishing and aquaculture sectors / communities for workforce planning and career mapping. It will support a more strategic and consistent approach to workforce planning. This in turn, will enable industry to build its capacity through better understanding of capability needs.

In addition to the universal challenges associated with a tight labour market (e.g. attracting people, barriers to entry, addressing skills needs), the industry is operating in a changing environment. Other challenges and opportunities for the fishing and aquaculture sectors include:
• Adapting to climate change
• Biosecurity
• Managing resources efficiently
• Meeting sustainability standards / social license to operate
• Moving to a circular economy
• Managing global supply chains (developing traceability, addressing counterfeit)
• Competing with other proteins
• New markets through free trade agreements
• Adopting digital technology, and;
• Attracting and retaining people to drive responses to changes that impact on the F&A community.

The AgriFood Supply Chain Resilience report (KPMG, 2022) identified ‘labour supply, wellbeing and succession’ as one of the significant stresses for seafood supply chains. Other significant stresses were weather and climate change, cold chain and freight space availability, sustainability and social licence, pests and disease and market access.

Fish Forever (2030 vision for Australia’s fishing and aquaculture community) highlights opportunities for the F&A community and contains outcomes under each of the following missions:
1. Growth for enduring prosperity
2. Best practices and production systems
3. A culture that is inclusive and forward thinking
4. Equitable and secure resource access
5. Society and consumers trust, respect and value.

This project will identify the capability needs (current and future) to address these challenges and opportunities. Further, it will support industry, to attract and retain people and to provide pathways to build capability. Sectors will be better informed as to how to address capability needs.

Addressing these needs will ensure industry is better equipped to respond to changes, challenges and opportunities that impact the fishing and aquaculture communities. The fishing and aquaculture map (FRDC website) highlights the “complex systems behind Indigenous, commercial and recreational fishing and aquaculture in Australia and how the elements are connected”. It also highlights how issues or events in one part of the system can have impacts on other sectors. Therefore, industry needs to be prepared for changes.

This project will engage with all key F&A sectors to ensure the capability framework is industry-driven and collectively owned. In addition, the project approach is designed to utilise existing sector/industry plans and not replace existing frameworks. RMCG will work collaboratively with industry.

Objectives

1. Development of a fit-for-purpose capability framework for the fisheries and aquaculture industries and individual organisations
2. Engagement and collaboration with key industry stakeholders to enable adoption and use of the framework
3. Establishment of a shared process and terminology for talking about capabilities throughout the fishing and aquaculture industry
4. Mapped critical capabilities highlighting gaps and opportunities for collaborative action

Final report

Authors: Deborah Prentice Sasha Brightman Natasha Frazer and Anne-Maree Boland
Final Report • 2024-06-01 • 14.11 MB
2022-153-DLD.pdf

Summary

In 2023 RM Consulting Group (RMCG) was contracted by FRDC to develop a Fisheries and Aquaculture (F&A) Workforce Capability Framework (hereafter referred to as the Framework) that would be used as a high-level, standardised tool across all F&A sectors. The FRDC and other groups in leadership roles for Australia’s F&A sectors have highlighted workforce development as a key opportunity and priority.
We have created a comprehensive Framework that captures the enablers (the internal and external systems and culture that either help or hinder employees and businesses to thrive and support growth in people’s capability) and the people capabilities (knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviours) that should be considered as a starting point in F&A workforce planning.
The intention of this project was to collaborate with industry to produce a F&A Workforce Capability Framework. This has been achieved, as demonstrated through the many and diverse stakeholders engaged and the attached Framework. The stakeholders interviewed and engaged had some interest and/or experience in workforce issues so were able to add value to the development of the Framework. They will also be able to champion the subsequent  implementation of projects that emerge from the Framework.
The Framework is a step towards addressing the above challenges and opportunities. It provides a broad, high-level approach to thinking about how to  meet the needs and aspirations of businesses and organisations.
The case studies included in this document offer real-world examples of where innovative thinking has been used to solve issues around workforce  planning, attraction and retention of staff, and broader geographical and social challenges.
The research and the development of this Framework emphasises the need to think differently, innovate and enable collaboration.

Project products

Industry
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2020-036
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Identifying population connectivity of shark bycatch species in NT waters

Charles Darwin University and the Northern Territory (NT) Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade (DITT) Fisheries Division used genetic data to investigate the population structure of two small tropical shark species (Milk Shark [Rhizoprionodon acutus] and Australian Blackspot Shark [Carcharhinus...
ORGANISATION:
Charles Darwin University (CDU)
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2016-257
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Implementing and evaluating the Australian Seafood Trade Agenda 2016 - 2018 - Seafood Trade Advisory Group (STAG)

This report details the activities and achievements of the STAG for the period 2016 to 2018 including: 1.Consultation with seafood exporters and industry associations to determine and agree on trade and market access priorities for inclusion in the Seafood Trade and Market Access Agenda andAction...
ORGANISATION:
Honey and Fox Pty Ltd
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-051
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT

Examining the potential impacts of seismic surveys on Octopus and larval stages of Southern Rock Lobster

This report details the portion of FRDC 2019-051: Examining the potential impacts of seismic surveys on Octopus and larval stages of Southern Rock Lobster focusing on the impacts of exposure to a full-scale seismic survey on the early life stages of the Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii),...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania

Women in Seafood Australasia - Understanding, supporting and promoting effective participation by women within the Australian seafood industry

Project number: 2018-174
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $201,500.00
Principal Investigator: Heidi J. Mumme
Organisation: Women in Seafood Australasia (WISA)
Project start/end date: 19 Sep 2019 - 19 Sep 2021
Contact:
FRDC

Need

A comprehensive and wide ranging understanding of the current levels of engagement of women in the seafood sector will provide a valuable and ongoing resource to the wider seafood sector to increase women's engagement and participation.

To support and promote the value of fully engaged women participating effectively and helping to secure the future viability of the Australian seafood industry WISA needs to build critical skills of seafood women, delivered in a way that is accessible to them and encourages participation from rural and regional areas. This is particularly important for women under 30.

Researching (nationally and internationally) and better understanding the value of having greater diversity within seafood enterprises, associations, research agencies, at senior management, board and committee level will help WISA create an integrated online and offline skills development platform. The platform will need to be easily accessible by women, focused on the specific and particular needs of women and support and encourage greater participation by women in the seafood industry.

While there are resources available e.g e-leaders program there is a need for these resources to be reviewed and updated to target the specific needs of seafood women. Additionally, WISA needs to form strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships/alliances with other relevant organisations and networks and work with them to capitalise on opportunities provided through these partnerships.

Having skilled women is not sufficient to ensure that women are successful and effective contributors. It is also necessary to develop a specific pathway program for women to gain the confidence necessary to nominate and be selected for key management, board and committees. This will help seafood enterprises and organisations (industry, research and government) to increase diversity by enabling access to skilled women able to contribute to their success.

Objectives

1. 1 To create a baseline (quantitative and qualitative) against which progress and impact of WISA activities can be measured.
2. 2 To establish an online skills platform to provide access to training by women in rural and regional areas that will support greater diversity in seafood enterprises, research agencies and industry associations.
3. 3. To deliver the Women in Seafood Pathways program targeting at least 15 graduates initially.
4. To establish a communications and extension program to highlight the roles of women in seafood and the value diversity provides to the seafood industry and community.

Final report

Authors: Kirsten Abernethy Heidi Mumme and Karen Holder
Final Report • 2022-10-01 • 1.13 MB
2018-174-DLD.pdf

Summary

This FRDC project, Understanding, supporting and promoting effective participation by women in the Australian seafood industry, was pivotal for WISA in supporting its future direction as an organisation. Research undertaken showcased the significance of the roles and contributions of seafood women and exposed the structural and cultural barriers faced by women in the industry. The provision of a bespoke entry level leadership program for women using an online format has provided WISA with greater understanding of the professional development needs of seafood women and how to deliver these effectively. The popularity and success of communication and extension activities incorporated into three key events throughout the project, including presentations, panel sessions, webinars, workshops and networking events, met several objectives including: increasing industry recognition of the contributions of seafood women, highlighting the value inclusion and diversity provides to industry and communities, and identifying ways forward to shift structures and cultures impeding women’s participation and progression in the industry. Underpinned and supported by this project, WISA underwent a renewal including developing a strategic framework to deliver more to its members targeting the evidence-based needs of women in seafood, as well as transitioning to a new company structure which has resulted in a more effectively governed organisation.
Final Report • 2023-02-01 • 2.84 MB
2018-174-2-DLD.pdf

Summary

Women of the Australian Seafood Industry: Women’s contribution, their roles and what women need to succeed, reports the findings of the research component of the Women in Seafood Australasia (WISA) project: 2018-174 Understanding, supporting and promoting effective participation by women in the Australian seafood industry.
Women are an important component of the Australian seafood industry, present in every sector working in the supply chain and with the industry, and every organisation type. Until this project, Australia had little data on women’s contributions to the seafood industry and the roles women play. Furthermore, there was little industry-wide understanding of women’s experiences working in the Australian seafood industry, if and where there are inequalities and gendered differences in experiences, and where barriers lie to women fully participating and progressing in the industry.
This national project used a combination of data sources, including Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data, in depth key informant interviews, and an online survey, to reveal answers to these questions first asked by Women in Seafood Australasia twenty years ago.
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-125
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

FishPath: Tailoring Management to Context in Data-Limited Fisheries

Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (NT)
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