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People

Assessing the biosecurity risk of uncooked whole and eviscerated barramundi and grouper in relation to exotic viruses

Project number: 2019-126
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $69,279.00
Principal Investigator: Matthew A. Landos
Organisation: Future Fisheries Veterinary Service Pty Ltd (FFVS)
Project start/end date: 19 Apr 2020 - 28 Feb 2021
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The Australian farmed Barramundi is estimated at over $37.1 million AUD with a production of over 3,772 tonnes annually (Savage, 2015). The value of the wild-catch sector was estimated to be $9.9 million AUD with 1,073 tonnes produced (Savage, 2015). These sectors of the industry as well as recreational and Indigenous fishers, are all at risk of being exposed to hazards potentially introduced by imported Barramundi and grouper products, which could pose significant consequences. The Australian Federal Department of Agriculture does not consider there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the import conditions for uncooked barramundi do not effectively manage the risk of pests and diseases of concern arriving in Australia. Until further evidence is generated to demonstrate that importation of uncooked barramundi products poses a risk that exceeds Australia's Appropriate Level of Protection, then regulatory actions to mitigate these perceived biosecurity risks are unlikely to be implemented. Risk mitigation requirements for importation of whole farmed barramundi include that the exporting country must, among other things, declare it has in place health surveillance and monitoring and that the fish were not derived from a population slaughtered as an official disease control measure. However, this self-declaration is not supported by rigorous testing to ensure compliance. There are current and have been no previous protocols in place to test for the target iridoviruses in imported barramundi and grouper product, so the efficacy of the existing import controls has not been subject to assessment at retail level. Sampling at retail outlets of uncooked whole and eviscerated barramundi and grouper commodities is proposed in order to better assess the efficacy of import conditions. This project will focus on determining the presence or absence of exotic virus genetic material in imported uncooked potential high risk barramundi and grouper commodity. Should any positive genetic material be detected confirmatory re-testing will be performed in order to reduce the risk of a false positive PCR test result and a subsequent project will be prepared o

Objectives

1. To determine the presence of Red sea bream iridovirus (RSIV), Infectious Spleen and Kidney Necrosis Virus (ISKNV), Scale drop syndrome virus (SDSV) and Singapore Grouper Iridovirus (SGIV) in high risk imported uncooked barramundi and grouper collected from seafood retail outlets throughout Australia, using PCR.
2. Review of imported uncooked barramundi and grouper commodity types and relevance to current import risk assessment and published literature.

Final report

ISBN: 9781639441143
Authors: Matt A. Landos James Fensham Paul Hick Alison Tweedie Jo-Anne Ruscoe
Final Report • 2021-10-01 • 3.42 MB
2019-126-DLD.pdf

Summary

Presently, the Australian Barramundi farming industry enjoys freedom from numerous internationally significant diseases including all from the Megalocytivirus genus of iridoviruses. These diseases are known to be causing severe impacts on farmed Barramundi and other species in southeast Asia and elsewhere. Australia’s biosecurity system is the primary barrier to keep such disease risks offshore. The importation of Barramundi and other finfish commodities for human consumption from countries where these diseases have been reported had not been fully assessed as a risk pathway for disease incursion prior to this project.
Adoption

National Recreational Fishing Forum Series (2025-2029)

Project number: 2024-048
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $300,000.00
Principal Investigator: Cassie Price
Organisation: Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF)
Project start/end date: 27 Mar 2025 - 31 Aug 2029
Contact:
FRDC

Need

ARFF proposes to run a 1-day National Recreational Fishing Forum on Tuesday 22nd July 2025. With the set up and additional meetings around recreational fishing to be held on Wed 23rd, the AFTA Trade Show held on Thurs 24th, Fri 25th and Saturday 26th. Allowing participants to travel to the event on Monday 21st and home on Sunday 27th (if not prior). Followed by Annual events in the two years following.

Target Audience/s – Leaders in recreational fishing sector, future leaders of recreational fishing sector, key leaders of other fishing sectors (commercial wild and indigenous), decision makers in governments/departments relevant to recreational fishing. We expect between 150-300 participants.

ARFF will engage a conference organising agency (preferred proposal attached) on the Gold Coast, and set up a forum organising committee from their broader membership. Together they will;
- Determine the logistics of the location and set up, and alignment with AFTA events
- Set up online information and registration
- Promote broadly to recreational fishing groups, peak bodies and recreational fishers
- Determine a program, themes/topics and call for speakers
- Run the event smoothly including all pre event and post event logistics

FRDC will have the opportunity to receive,
- A place on the organising committee
- A mutually agreed number of complimentary registrations
- Any signage provided by FRDC for the forum on stage or at strategic meeting places in the forum break-out/gathering areas
- Logo on all materials, both hard copy and digital including conference website
- Ability to promote the event

People
PROJECT NUMBER • 2022-153
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Fishing and Aquaculture Workforce Capability Framework

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...
ORGANISATION:
RM Consulting Group (RMCG)

Security of resource access - what is legislative best practice for the commercial seafood industry?

Project number: 2019-173
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $50,000.00
Principal Investigator: Chauncey Hammond
Organisation: Seafood Industry Australia (SIA)
Project start/end date: 29 Feb 2020 - 4 Mar 2021
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The need for improved resource security was articulated at the SIA Tipping Point meeting held in Fremantle in February 2019. This event was attended by seafood industry representatives from across Australia. The absence of secure access to resources, both aquatic and terrestrial, is a major threat and looming impediment to the growth and prosperity of the Australian seafood industry. This is not a new problem, but despite debate, discussion, lobbying and advocacy for more than 2 decades, it remains an existential threat to the Australian seafood industry.

Improving security is critical to providing an environment that encourages innovation and the confidence to invest and work in our industry.

Lack of certainty of access to biological and environmental resources has significant ramifications for the mental health of our people, and negatively impacts access to business opportunities and other critical business resources including finance and staff. Flow on effects from continued resource access restrictions also affect our post-harvest businesses, freight companies and local communities across Australia.

The threats to access and resource security are varied, including:
• sharing resources with, and impacts of, other marine and terrestrial users including recreational fishers, indigenous title claims, petroleum industry,
• changes to / lack of clarity surrounding government policy and legislation,
• use of Ministerial discretionary powers, as demonstrated by the Western Australian Government intervention in the WRL fishery quota and dramatic increases of pearling lease fees,
• water quality requirements associated with aquaculture operations,
• uncertainty results in risk in financing of commercial fishing operations,
• access limitations restrict growth of jobs in the aquaculture, wild and post-harvest sectors,
• changing community perceptions
• eNGO activism such as in the small pelagic fishery, quota purchases, alternate definition of sustainability and targeting particular fishing methods,
• restriction of access through increasing reserves including Marine Parks and threats of more restrictive management plans, and
• changing environmental conditions.

Objectives

1. To evaluate international instruments to improve the security of Australia's resource access
2. Identify best practice with respect of surety of access

Developing FRDC’s 2020-2025 RD&E Plan

Project number: 2018-197
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $370,061.23
Principal Investigator: Matt Barwick
Organisation: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)
Project start/end date: 19 Apr 2019 - 30 Dec 2020
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Section 19 of PIRD Act requires R&D corporations to prepare R&D Plans for each consecutive 5-year period. Each plan is to include (at a minimum):
· a statement of the Corporation’s objectives and priorities for the period to which the plan is expressed to relate; and
· an outline of the strategies that the Corporation intends to adopt in order to achieve those objectives.
Under section 10 of the Funding Agreement between FRDC and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR), FRDC is required to develop a consultation plan, which seeks to:
• explain the purpose and objectives of consultation to inform the 2020-2025 RD&E Plan;
• describe who will be consulted;
• outline methods proposed; and,
• explain how input provided will be used.

FRDC is to obtain DAWR approval for the consultation plan prior to commencement of activities.
In order to develop an RD&E Plan which accurately interprets and responds to RD&E needs for Australia’s fishing and aquaculture community it is important to understand the aspirations, pain points, risks and opportunities of each sector over the intended life of the plan through undertaking broad consultation. It is also important to understand the current situation of the fishing and aquaculture (F&A) community (including indigenous, wild catch, aquaculture and recreational, and post-harvest sectors). The situational analysis should provide an updated understanding of what fishing and aquaculture looks like in Australia today, who is involved, what drives them, how they are performing, how the product (if retained) is used, what are the main dominant risks and trends. An earlier situational analysis delivered as an output of FRDC Project 2014/503.20 provides a useful template.
Finally, it is for any RD&E plan to be informed by an understanding of likely future trends, risks and opportunities facing Australia’s F&A community in the future. This requires:
· compilation of evidence to enable consideration of likely future geopolitical, social, economic, environmental and/or technical changes likely to occur in the future, and drivers of those changes;
· generation of projections relating to supply and demand for seafood products as well as cultural and/or recreational time use

Objectives

1. Undertake consultative activities to inform development of the 2020-2025 RD&E Plan
2. Deliver a contemporary situational analysis for Australia’s fishing and aquaculture community to inform FRDC’s 2020-2025 RD&E Plan
3. Deliver a future-scan with a decadal time horizon (2030) to inform FRDC’s 2020-2025 RD&E Plan
4. Undertake activities necessary to enable launch of the 2020-2025 RD&E Plan by 30 June 2020.

Final report

Authors: Jeff Dambacher Alistair Hobday Fabio Boschetti Chris Moeseneder Linda Thomas
Final Report • 2020-05-28 • 2.57 MB
2018-197-DLD.pdf

Summary

This report covers the second of two CSIRO contributions to the project FRDC 2018-197. This project was reviewing FRDC research objectives through a process that developed alternative scenarios of possible futures relevant to Australian fisheries. Discussed here is the development of a quantitative model to explore future seafood scenarios developed elsewhere. The purpose of this modelling exercise was to support the project FRDC 2018-197. The development of these possible future scenarios was undertaken in a process 
that ran in parallel to the CSIRO contribution. This process involved a series of stakeholder workshops and follow-up discussions, to which CSIRO staff were occasional observers.
The qualitative models developed to describe present day dynamics were then tested to see if they could account for previously observed shocks or perturbations the Australian aquaculture and fisheries system. This involved a face-to-face workshop and teleconference with representatives of the Stage 1 expert group.
Based on external input to management, employment and environmental variables, the qualitative models produced a set of predictions that were highly consistent with previously observed impacts in Australian fisheries and aquaculture. 
The models were then tested to see how well they compared to the dynamics described in the future scenarios, and here model predictions were found to be highly consistent with the dynamics played out in the two future scenarios – that is, both worlds are likely.
With ongoing support from CSIRO, these models can now be used to explore alternative perturbations, identify the informative indicators, and to determine when these models of the future (World A and B) are no longer realistic representations of real situation. If insufficient information is being gather on these indicators, the efforts could be made to collect such data, or if the information is too expensive, the alternatives can also be investigated to determine how many alternative indicators provide the equivalent conformation
Final Report • 2020-05-28 • 2.57 MB
2018-197-DLD.pdf

Summary

This report covers the second of two CSIRO contributions to the project FRDC 2018-197. This project was reviewing FRDC research objectives through a process that developed alternative scenarios of possible futures relevant to Australian fisheries. Discussed here is the development of a quantitative model to explore future seafood scenarios developed elsewhere. The purpose of this modelling exercise was to support the project FRDC 2018-197. The development of these possible future scenarios was undertaken in a process 
that ran in parallel to the CSIRO contribution. This process involved a series of stakeholder workshops and follow-up discussions, to which CSIRO staff were occasional observers.
The qualitative models developed to describe present day dynamics were then tested to see if they could account for previously observed shocks or perturbations the Australian aquaculture and fisheries system. This involved a face-to-face workshop and teleconference with representatives of the Stage 1 expert group.
Based on external input to management, employment and environmental variables, the qualitative models produced a set of predictions that were highly consistent with previously observed impacts in Australian fisheries and aquaculture. 
The models were then tested to see how well they compared to the dynamics described in the future scenarios, and here model predictions were found to be highly consistent with the dynamics played out in the two future scenarios – that is, both worlds are likely.
With ongoing support from CSIRO, these models can now be used to explore alternative perturbations, identify the informative indicators, and to determine when these models of the future (World A and B) are no longer realistic representations of real situation. If insufficient information is being gather on these indicators, the efforts could be made to collect such data, or if the information is too expensive, the alternatives can also be investigated to determine how many alternative indicators provide the equivalent conformation
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-177
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

'If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else' - Future proofing the Australian Mud Crab Industry through improved strategic direction

BACKGROUND Australian mud crab fisheries extend from northern Western Australia (WA) across the Northern Territory (NT) and Queensland (Qld) through to northern New South Wales (NSW) and are managed across the four jurisdictions. The product from each jurisdiction is sold into a...
ORGANISATION:
C-AID Consultants
SPECIES