Project Search

At the third meeting of the Queensland Fishing Industry Development Council (FIDC) on 26 May 1998 it was agreed that greater attention should be given to the development of a strategy to develop the industry for the benefit of all stakeholders through the innovative Foresighting process. This process is widely accepted across the world for many industry sectors. The value of Foresighting was proven through its successful application in the whole of the New Zealand Government.

This has been further highlighted by the recent FRDC funded Fisheries Habitat Review.

FIDC has agreed that the resources of R&D and management work are not currently directed towards an optimised cross sectoral strategy and accordingly this project is seen as being of the highest priority.

The preliminary successes of the Fisheries staff in supporting Foresighting have resulted in an invitation to help drive the process for the whole of QDPI.

This project addresses several QFIRAC priority areas, but is largely focused on industry development, which is demonstrated in Objectives 3 and 7:

Objective 3 this project entails relevant, focused research on specific stock assessment and evaluations of stakeholder impacts on the resource, and,
Objective 7 the methodology of this project offers significant cross-sectoral conflict resolution as all stakeholders are enrolled to contribute to the future building process.

Objectives

1. To promote cultural change in the fishing industry through scenario planning

2. To provide an holistic framework for the development of the fishing industry in Qld including all stakeholders eg commercial, recreational, indigenous, charter boat operators, aquaculture, service providers and the community at large.

3. Promoting both ecological and economic sustainable development through cooperative planning.

Final report

Author: C. Bishop and P. Appleton

Final Report • 2006-09-15 • 3.43 MB

1999-354-DLD.pdf

Summary

The establishment in 1997of the Fishing Industry Development Council (FIDC), a peak fishing advisory body, set the scene for an examination of where Queensland’s fisheries and the fishing industry sectors were heading in the longer term.

The FIDC is a high level consultative forum reporting directly to the Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries. It comprises an independent Chair, and representatives from each of the commercial catching sector, marketing, recreational interests, charter fishing, environmental non-government organizations, indigenous peoples, aquaculture and State and Commonwealth agencies (collectively called the fishing sector interests).

By early 1998 discussions within the FIDC were initiated around the concept of “foresighting” which provides a framework for thinking about the future that you want to build. The framework includes the use and analysis of a range of scenarios or possible futures and then consultations within sectors and across different sectors or fishing interests, to develop a picture of the preferred future for the fishing industry at some point into the future, for example, 2010. The concept of foresighting had been used with considerable success in New Zealand in the fishing industry, rural industries and sectors within the New Zealand Government.

A foresighting project commenced in 1998 as a pilot study, funded by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to introduce foresighting techniques into the fishing industry. The success of this pilot stage of the study prompted the FIDC and DPI to approach the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) in 1999 to obtain funds for a more comprehensive project based on the strategies and techniques of the foresighting paradigm.

Keywords: foresighting, pathways, scenario building, fishing interest groups, fisheries, fishing industry, cooperation, preferred futures, cultural change, investment