The Australian abalone industry identified a clear need to continue with the work done by David McKinna and the investigation into the Australian abalone industry, its markets, global production, abalone consumption and consumption trends and Australia’s position in the market.

McKinna’s report provides a cursory look at the harvest and post harvest sectors of the industry identifying areas that could reduce the benefit of market opportunities. However, it also offers an in-depth analysis of global production, consumption and consumption trends and the position of abalone within overall seafood consumption.

The report offers strategic options to implement a program of industry development deal with issues relating to marketing and promotion that face the Australian abalone fishery.  It provides several options, but avoids prescribing exactly what the thinks the Australian abalone industry needs to do.  The only way forward is to get the majority of stakeholders to agree what should be done to achieve better outcomes. 

One of the benefits that flow from this report is that it gives anyone who reads it, a comprehensive insight into the Australian abalone industry and where it is positioned in the global market.  

According to the report the Australian abalone industry must develop a set of nationally accredited quality standards and market its products under an overarching brand or logo that unites the Australian abalone industry as one national industry; and identifies the product as being Australian in origin and superior to all other species of abalone.

The report clearly sets out the process by which industry can support a quality standard accreditation system and the development of a logo or brand for Australian abalone.

The first step toward supporting any recommendations is to hold a series of workshops to secure support from industry to invest in developing and improving itself throughout the length of the supply chain.

The objectives of the project were to secure a majority of support from the harvest and post harvest sectors of the Australian abalone fishery for a program of industry development funded by industry through a levy system and the development a draft options paper for an industry development plan based on the workshop outputs and the recommendations of the McKinna review.

Keywords: Industry consolidation, funding through a levy system,  quality and product integrity standards, logo/brand.