Seafood Industry Partnerships in Schools - Phase 2 Program
Lack of knowledge by community has contributed to poor perception of industry and negative community attitudes. Teachers are ill-informed about industry’s efforts to operate in a sustainable manner; once informed-they incorporate better knowledge into their teaching program. The long-term benefits for industry with a better informed community are considerable.
The SIPS-Tasmanian-Pilot indicated teachers have difficulty accessing information about the marine environment, sustainable fishing/marine farm practices, and post-harvest sector. Developing/delivering this information within a metropolitan context is a key challenge of this program. Fishermen/Farmers and the post harvest sector are seeking avenues to engage with their local community to secure their social licence to operate - this program gives them a community a voice and a connection with the next generation. An informed community can actively engage in debate around issues affecting industry and the seafood supply - particularly at point-of-sale. Delivering this information to schoolchildren and teachers in a metropolitan context is key.
With the assistance and support of key groups such as the Sydney Fish Market, Master Fish Merchants of Australia, and NSW Fishermens’ Cooperative Association, and our in-house experience of working with the NSW Department of Education, and with various state-based teachers associations on our 'Our Valuable Estuaries' projects - OceanWatch Australia has the ability, determination and support of industry, to make this project succeed.
Final report
Tactical Research Fund: Seafood Industry Partnerships in Schools - Program Pilot, Tasmania
School teachers report a difficulty accessing relevant and accurate information about the marine
environment, current sustainable commercial fishing and marine farm practices. This, coupled with a
recognised paucity of young people embarking on a career in the seafood industry indicates a need for
greater interaction between the seafood industry and the educational sector.
A general lack of knowledge about commercial fishing practices in the public arena has contributed to
poor public perception of the seafood industry, and in fact public attitudes to commercial fisheries are
often negative and ill informed.
Final report
People development program: 2010 FRDC International Travel Bursaries - Lowri Pryce: To present at the World Ocean Council 's Sustainable Ocean Summit and to visit key organisations in the Irish republic developing wild caught Seafood EMSs.
Presenting at the Summit, themed "Reducing Risk, Increasing Sustainability: Solutions through Collaboration", will increase my contact/collaboration with leading marine industries experts that use the marine space and resources. As the summit aims to assist marine businesses in addressing shared ocean environmental challenges and develop the practical programs to develop and implement solutions - issues raised at the 2010 Seafood Directions, there is opportunity for me to gather ideas, techniques and contacts that are relevant to the sustainability of Australian fisheries and mechanism for improved communication to the public. Further travel to discuss progress in Ireland on wild caught seafood EMS and its impact on market share, will further assist the work of OWA and the industry nationally, particularly the inshore fisheries which often are in direct conflict with other estuarine/marine user groups.
Final report
Adoption of an environmental management systems by NSW commercial estuary fishers and oyster farmers
Hoppers in action: a handbook for fishers on the use of hoppers in Australian prawn trawl fisheries
Research undertaken in the Queensland 'hopper' pilot study and South Australia's Spencer Gulf prawn trawl fishery has suggested that the use of hoppers in prawn trawl operations can enhance the survival of bycatch species. Whilst preliminary results from both the Queensland pilot study and current research in the Spencer Gulf support these suggestions, there exists various views across Australian as to whether hoppers actually do make a positive contribution towards increasing the survival of bycatch species.
Over the last few years, the uptake of hoppers in Australian prawn trawl fisheries has increased, with many vessels in the Northern Prawn, Exmouth Gulf, Spencer Gulf and Gulf of St Vincent prawn trawl fisheries now using hoppers. In most of these fisheries the rate of adoption has been driven by the economic benefits relevant to improved product quality and increased operational efficiencies when using hoppers. However, a coordinated and cooperative review to determine and quantify the effects of hoppers has not been undertaken.
NORMAC’s Bycatch Action Plan has identified research into the effects of hoppers on bycatch survival as a ‘high priority’. The East Coast Trawl Plan also includes the need to reduce bycatch by 40% by 2005 and flags that hoppers could assist this target. SARDI have proposed that hoppers, used as part of a suite of bycatch mitigation strategies, could improve bycatch survival. NSW estuary prawn trawl operators supported the concept of hoppers and the need for further research into hoppers was identified as a 'high priority' at the Estuary Prawn Trawl MAC meeting held at NSW Fisheries in July 2002.
Both CSIRO and SARDI submitted industry-supported hopper focused research applications into their respective FRABs for this current round of FRDC funding. Both proposals included the involvement of SeaNet officers to facilitate industry involvement in documenting the current use and understanding of hopper operations and assist with the extension of information across identified target fisheries.
An independently facilitated workshop was held in September 2002 to bring together industry and research stakeholders from both Commonwealth and State prawn trawl fisheries in WA, SA, NSW and Queensland (East Coast Trawl and Torres Strait) to progress the development of a national hopper R&D framework. Outcomes from the workshop supported the need of a coordinated national project approach to be developed, with respect to future research, education and communication activities relevant to hoppers.
Final report
This project has provided an opportunity to consolidate all literature currently available on existing knowledge and technology relevant to the use/research of hoppers. It has demonstrated that there are clear gaps in the research and that it is imperative that further work be undertaken to identify and quantify the environmental benefits of hoppers for bycatch survival
The handbook is a useful resource for fishers, researchers, managers and conservationists on the use, designs and practices associated with the existing use of hoppers across Australian prawn trawl fisheries. It offers a simple and yet effective presentation of the existing mechanisms used by industry to improve operational practices and reduce environmental impacts.
Workshop to develop a national strategy for hopper R&D in Australian prawn trawl fisheries
It has been suggested that the use of hoppers in prawn trawl fisheries can minimise the effects on bycatch species. Preliminary results from both the Queensland pilot study and research in SA’s Spencer Gulf Prawn trawl fishery support these suggestions. The uptake of hoppers in Australian prawn trawl fisheries is increasing, however, a coordinated and cooperative research approach to quantitatively determine the effects of hoppers has not been attempted.NORMAC’s Bycatch Action Plan has identified research into the effects of hoppers on bycatch survival as a ‘high priority’. The East Coast Trawl Plan also includes the need to reduce bycatch by 40% by 2005 and flags that hoppers could assist achieve this target. SARDI have proposed that hoppers, used as part of a suite of bycatch mitigation devices, could improve bycatch survival.