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