Commercial in confidence. To know more about this project please contact FRDC.

Two levels of bursary will be provided. The main bursary will fund the full attendance costs of emerging leaders (excluding some opt-in activities), with a smaller bursary to support the attendance of existing leaders.

Pre-Conference social gathering and networking:
Conference mentors will create a private social media group with successful applicants to begin introductions and create a casual ‘hub’ for contact and socialising. Mentors will initiate and prompt engagement within the group to build rapport. Closer to the conference, the group will meet online prior for a more formal introduction, led by mentors. In this meeting, attendees will:
-Will briefly introduce themselves (ideally with a recent brag photo/clip) and give an overview of their rec fishing environment, including an example of a conference theme they think they/their area do well and another they see as needing improvement.
-Identify keynote speakers or high-profile conference attendees that they would particularly like to engage with.
-Discuss how they can make the most of the conference, both individually and as a group. This will include developing strategies to maximise group coverage of the conference, means of comparing notes (OneNote etc) and the kind of outputs they think would benefit the broader rec fishing community.
-work with mentors to develop a conference action plan, encompassing all the above discussion.

This will be used by mentors and organizers to frame up attendee activities and help facilitate networking events during the conference.

During conference
Delegates will be tasked broadly with:
-Participating in the program and associated events and meetings (following pre-conference co-development with mentors as above).
-Completing pre-work assigned by mentors to ensure they get the most out of participation.
-Demonstrate initiative to grow their networks by directly engaging key conference delegates.
-Collaboratively recording insights from participation for use in developing key outputs (see Post conference below).
-Develop/extend communications outputs to help those not able to attend the event to understand key insights.

Post conference
Delegates will
-Reflect on pre-conference expectations and goals, and identify future actions for further professional growth.
-Contribute towards development of a shared formal synthesis report, that summarises key insights, opportunities for adoption in an Australian context, and strategic gaps.
-Meet with ARFF/FRDC Research subcommittee to share insights and inform future prioritisation discussions.
-Evaluate results from extension of communication outputs developed and disseminated by the group.

The proposal is for the production of the sixth edition of the SAFS reports. SAFS is Australia's only coordinated, national-scale stock-status reporting framework, and as such is a critical driver of jurisdictional collaboration and strategic processes. The current application is to produce the SAFS reports in 2023 and address strategic issues outlined above. In order to ensure the continuation of SAFS beyond 2023, it is essential for jurisdictions to develop ownership of the reports and to embed SAFS processes in core business, and for efficiencies in production and report management to continue to progress. A parallel project to develop jurisdictional reporting services is also underway to assist jurisdictions develop their jurisdictional chapters. As documented in the independent audit of SAFS 2016 (FRDC project 2016-143), the process of compiling SAFS on a co-operative basis between FRDC, Australian government agencies and all fisheries jurisdictions has led to greater joint collaboration, as well as transfers of methodologies and processes, to deliver higher quality and more credible stock status reporting which can be accessed nationally and internationally, as well as assisting in policy decisions regarding changes to particular fisheries management arrangements and in research priorities. Primary drivers for National reporting of the SAFS include: (i) the State of the Environment Report 2011, i.e., ‘lack of a nationally integrated approach inhibits effective marine management’; (ii) a recommendation of the House of Representatives Inquiry into the Role of Science for Fisheries and Aquaculture (Netting the Benefits Report 2012), i.e., ‘producing national status report regularly’; (iii) the Australian Fisheries Management Forum national statement of intent, i.e. a key outcome of ‘Goal 1’ is the National Status of Australian Fish Stocks Report; (iv) the National Fishing and Aquaculture Strategy 2015–20, i.e., ‘Goal 1’ of this strategy will be partially measured by an increased number of fisheries assessed as environmentally sustainable in the Status of Australian Fish Stocks Reports (this includes reducing the number of stocks assessed as uncertain); (v) the FRDC RD&E Plan 2020–25, enabling strategy V (tracking and reporting on sustainability of fish stocks and performance of fisheries).

Shark depredation of catches have been nationally acknowledged as an issue for all stakeholders – however, much of the information is anecdotal and there is a lack of clarity on where efforts need to be prioritised to find possible solutions.
In response, the FRDC will facilitate up to two national workshops to understand the scope of depredation and approaches to mitigate and manage this source of mortality.