The Australian seafood industry faces two major challenges, to cope with the limitations to those wild fisheries resources that are fully exploited, and to adapt to the changing preferences and expectations of the marketplace. Further growth will come from increased aquaculture production and better utilisation of the existing catch.

We are trading on a global market, and overseas competitors are threatening our position as a unique supplier of high quality raw material. Australian exporters have been effective in moving from bulk commodity markets to smaller, more lucrative niche markets with specialist requirements.

Trade liberalisation will expand the scope for high priced, value-added products with a significant service component. To take advantage of these opportunities, Australian producers need knowledge of markets and their requirements, processes, products, presentation options, quality and safety standards and systems, prices, and the levels of service expected of suppliers.

In the current project (1999/333) a number of areas where industry is demanding assistance are listed. Some of these have been satisfied whilst others need more emphasis. These are:

1. Assistance to people exploring new ventures, products and processes including value-adding and processing options, market details and technical information.

2. Information on contacts in markets, government agencies and other service providers (eg consultants, freight forwarders, equipment providers). AUSEAS needs to maintain a comprehensive list of contacts and to keep information on the capabilities of providers of services to improve coordination across the seafood industry. This current contact list along with contact lists from other components of SSA will form the basis for a whole SSA industry contact database.

3. Trouble shooting when problems occur, usually in the form of telephone advice or short, customised written material.

4. Advice on funding assistance, usually in the areas of product and process development applications to NSC. This can include reviewing applications before and after submission and assessment of reports.

5. Demand for brief targeted information to be provided free of charge through delivery methods such as Internet, fax-back, etc.

6. A centralised delivery point for information on seafood related matters to act as a “one-stop" shop for the industry.

In addition to direct assistance to industry, we also perform a networking role between researchers and the industry. Services we offer to researchers are:
(a) Identification of areas needing research.
(b) Assistance with background literature searches etc.
(c) Introduction to industry collaborators.
(d) Review of research proposals.
(e) Review of reports etc prior to publication.
(f) Assistance with dissemination and application of research findings.

There is a need to assess how bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) are likely to affect the weight and composition of bycatch in the Queensland east coast trawl fishery (QECTF). Mandatory use of the devices has been recently implemented in some sectors and further measures are proposed.

There is a need to estimate and compare the weight and composition of bycatch with- and without-BRDs to assess recent and ongoing bycatch reduction initiatives that have been legislated in the Queensland Trawl Fishery Management Plan. Deploying observers or researchers appears to be the only robust approach for undertaking these comparisons.

Current estimates of the weight and composition of bycatch from the fishery operating without-BRDs are unknown for most sectors of the QECTF. These will have to be derived in order to facilitate any comparisons with estimates obtained when the fishery is operating with-BRDs.

There is also a need for the QECTF to consider the Criteria for Assessing Sustainability of Commercial Fisheries under the Wildlife Protection Act 1984 and the project makes some headway towards addressing these criteria.

The need for effective control and monitoring of safety and quality is obvious following the crisis of confidence caused by the recent viral outbreak which sent shockwaves throughout the seafood industry. Test kits allow industry to control the QA process rather than just follow the recommendations of consultants. They also allow industry to decide the type of processing required and the end use of the products being produced. One example is if a processor can determine the amount of bacteria present on seafood and the storage conditions it has been exposed to when delivered by fishers then they can estimate the length of shelf life that the seafood after processing will attain. This information will also indicate what types of product can be produced. It is a waste of time producing seafood at the limit of an importing country's standards if there is going to be further handling before the consumer purchases it. The Australian processor's target should be mush higher than this.

The new statutory requirements for food safety plans and the increasing adoption of formal quality management systems, necessitate the development of quality measures that are relevant and quantifiable.

For industry to implement QA programmes, there is an essential need for tools by which to monitor the systems. Rapid test kits provide these tools, but are they appropriate and effective for the Australian seafood processing environment? This knowledge is crucial to successful adoption of AQ programme initiatives.

There is a special need for this information by existing small and medium sized seafood enterprises, as well as new players entering the market, who do not have the resources not time to assess available methods themselves. Information providers such as AUSEAS can only provide lists of test kits that may be available but they have no funds to ascertain which ones work reliably under Australian conditions. They have stated that they will not recommend anything they have not tested yet this is what industry really wants. Promotional material accompanying test kits usually does not warn of any limitations.

Three areas of need for objective analysis are identified.

Product specification
As QA becomes more widespread, there is a need to specify and quantify the quality parameters so they can be included in product specifications associated with contracts. Those parameters may be Physical (eg size grades), Chemical (eg K values), Bacterial (eg TPC's), or Sensory (eg Demerit scores).

HACCP and Food Safety Plans
To monitor the effectiveness of a QA program such as proposed by SeaQual and SQMI, an objective, reliable measure of quality is needed. There are few universal measurements of quality and many tests require laboratory facilities. A number of rapid test kits have been developed which reduce delays in obtaining essential information required for processing strategies. Not all kits available are effective or suitable. This investigator has appraised some test kits intended for identifying the presence of sulphite on prawns and found them to be very inaccurate. An assessment of test kits in the Australian seafood processing environment is essential to establish their suitability.

Disputes and Loss Assessment
At the Centre officers are sometimes employed by loss assessors to report on the condition of suspect seafood in the distribution chain. We use a combination of bacterial, chemical and sensory techniques. The use of test kits within the processing sector would clarify many of these disputes.

The first item on the previous Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, John Anderson’s list of priorities for R&D corporations was "Identify strategic market access and investment opportunities based on improved access to international markets and to develop strategies to take advantage of these opportunities". The recently completed HIASM project is the only FRDC project to address this priority item. The project established a working relationship with the Supermarket to Asia Council and the new proposal will competently address the need identified by the Federal Government. The proposed project also addresses the FRDC program “industry development” and its key areas of “market development”, “value adding”, "quality and information delivery". The project will forge new links with the Supermarket to Asia (STA) program and will be the key link between STA and the seafood industry on a national basis.

The number of enquiries received by the project team on a wide range of species and products highlights the need for this project. The main needs that this project will address are:

* Keeping the Asian seafood market door open at a time when industry attention is temporarily diverted to such markets as USA and Europe.
* Overcoming the lack of industry expertise in marketing and lack of awareness of quality requirements in Asian markets.
* Adding value to under utilised and under valued species.
* Providing marketing information for other seafood projects.
* Generating interest in export markets.
* Providing a national seafood industry catalyst for quality initiatives and a focus point for marketing information for Australian under-utilised species.
* Providing a link with Supermarket to Asia programs and assisting with the uptake of these programs by the seafood industry.
* Providing a link with Asian trade exhibitions in order to increase seafood industry participation in these exhibitions.
* Increasing through-chain quality improvement by increasing the number of seafood companies with SeaQual Quality Food Australia accreditation.
* National co-ordination of marketing quality Australian seafoods.
* Revising awareness of Asian markets and their product and quality requirements.
* Developing a framework for how to do business in Asia included key marketing data on the Asian markets, competitor profiles and impediments to trade in the region.

The project team of the completed HIASM project also provided contacts from their in-market research to a number of companies or individuals that are pursuing markets for Australian seafood species. The knowledge gained from the project has already encouraged marketing efforts on lesser known but sustainable seafood species and will also encourage the harvesting of species that are currently not commercially viable in Australia. The HIASM project is the only marketing project with a national steering committee as a reference group that can assist in the expansion of markets for Australian seafood species.

The “Hooking into Asian Seafood Markets” project will work with SeaQual (Australia) in developing a SeaQual accreditation standards for the Australian seafood industry. The project will provide a conduit between STA and the seafood industry with respect to the project commercial operators and will assist with increasing the awareness of STA programs.

Demand for assistance from clients in areas such as live transport, modified atmosphere packaging, value adding, market information, etc continues. Requests for information in three new areas have increased. These are:

(i) A search for alternative export markets and domestic outlets for product formerly sent to Asia. In order to assist in this area, Alan Snow has recently competed an export facilitation course through the Australian Institute of Export.

(ii) A need to comply with food safety regulations and quality assurance specifications of customers and ultimately ANZFA. This is expected to increase as a result of the SeaQual initiatives.

(iii) A requirement to support the SeaQual Chooser initiative through supply of suitable material for the SeaQual packs and through an increased volume of requests for customised information packages resulting from the distribution of 35,000 Choosers.

More specifically, industry needs from AUSEAS that we have identified are:

1. Assistance to people who are exploring new ventures, products, and processes. This includes value adding and processing options, market details, and technical information.

2. Information on contacts in markets, government agencies, and other service providers (eg consultants, freight forwarders, equipment providers). AUSEAS needs to maintain a comprehensive list of contacts and to keep information on the capabilities of providers of services to improve coordination across the seafood industry.

3. Customised assistance to companies implementing food safety plans and quality management programs in cooperation with SeaQual initiatives.

4. Trouble shooting when problems occur, usually in the form of telephone advice or short targeted written material.

5. Advice on funding assistance, usually in the areas of product and process development applications to NSC. This can include reviewing applications before and after submission and assessment of reports.

6. Demand for brief targeted information to be provided free of charge through delivery methods such as internet, fax-back, etc.

7 A centralised delivery point for information on seafood related matters acting as a "one stop shop" for the industry.

8 A need to promote the national post-harvest infrastructure services of FRDC. i.e. AUSEAS, NSC, and SeaQual.