3 results

Informing strategies, policies and options supporting owner-operated fishing businesses in fisheries experiencing corporatisation

Project number: 2018-205
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $14,023.89
Principal Investigator: Tom T. Cosentino
Organisation: Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL)
Project start/end date: 31 May 2019 - 30 Dec 2019
:
TAGS
Fisheries Management
Economic
SPECIES
Southern Rock Lobster

Need

Southern rock lobster fishers have expressed concerns about trends in ownership of the fishery, including issues like concentration of ownership, foreign ownership and loss of regional economic benefits. Fisheries managers and industry leaders have expressed interest in attending a workshop that is aimed to conceptualise small-scale fisheries, the role of the state in facilitating or limiting corporatisation, and the extent that corporations are involved in conservation.

Objectives

1. Plan for and adapt to corporatisation in the southern rock lobster fishery and summarise concerns and identify possible solutions.
2. Identify ways that fishers can become better organized and better able to protect their interests.
3. Identify comparisons with fisheries that exist within ITQ managed systems.

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-925983-56-2
Author: Thomas Cosentino
Final Report • 2020-11-13 • 10.09 MB
2018-205-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Australian wild caught Southern rock lobster industry operates in the South Eastern part of Australia and spans three distinct jurisdictional areas - South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. The industry comprises a fleet of vessels run by a mix of family owned and operated business and vertically integrated export businesses. Some industry participants consider that the ownership structure has an impact on the culture of the industry which extends to benefits to regional communities, employment and job satisfaction. Southern Rocklobster Limited (SRL) recognised there is diversity in the composition of the industry’s structure and the receipt of benefits from the fishery varies between user types.

A workshop hosted by Southern Rocklobster Limited was held in Melbourne in October 2019, to allow industry stakeholders, managers and investors the opportunity to discuss the current industry structure and determine any paths of action. The purpose of the workshop was not to consult with industry on various options, but to lead thought and inform strategies, policies and options on what areas industry could improve, and how it could implement change to achieve those improvements.

Southern Rock Lobster Clean Green program, revision, digitisation & extension across the supply chain

Project number: 2017-224
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $705,117.00
Principal Investigator: Ross J. Hodge
Organisation: Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL)
Project start/end date: 29 Apr 2018 - 14 Feb 2020
:
SPECIES
Southern Rock Lobster

Need

Currently more vessels are participating in the Clean Green program than at any stage since first introduced in 2004. Re-aligning Clean Green to address new and changing legislative requirements has been the key driver for the increased support from industry. The process of revising the program content and on-going dialogue with regulators has identified that Clean Green must / will continue to be an evolving program to address regulatory changes and update the program content. Therefore a project is required to deliver a digitised operationally focussed, benchmark responsible fishing standard including support and auditing materials for the Australian seafood industry that will:
• Improve ongoing program administration (as regulators e.g. SWSA, AMSA and DAWR, continue to change and update relevant legislative requirements, the maintenance of a paper-based program will become unsustainable.
• Extend the Clean Green program into the post-harvest sector of the supply chain and provide a medium for SRL to ‘extend’ relevant outputs from other R&D in which the industry has invested to interested businesses e.g. traceability and ‘lobster health’.
• Improve communications and audit procedures with / for the Clean Green Auditor to streamline and reduce cost of independent third-party auditing processes
• Generate usable data for relevant regulators and seek their recognition / accreditation of the program and further opportunities for Clean Green to serve as a tool for industry self-regulation.
• Streamline program management and financial control of the program e.g. invoicing, scheduling of auditing, raising and closing out of Corrective Action Requests (CARs), physical auditing of vessels, communication with members, improved efficiency and effectiveness of Clean Green training and refresher training.
• Increase the transferability of the Clean Green ‘product’ to other catching sectors. This may aid with generating greater economies of scale and assist the Clean Green Program, and its management, to become financially self-sustaining to a greater degree.

Objectives

1. Revise and update Clean Green Program Material (catching sector) to meet stakeholder requirements and formatted for digitisation
2. Review and revise existing and develop new Clean Green Program material for exporter / post harvest operations and formatted for digitisation
3. Digitise the revised Clean Green Program so it can be implemented in a device application (app) software format (2 Apps: 1 Catching 1 Exporter)
4. Launch and Roll Out the Revised and Digitised Clean Green Program

Final report

ISBN: 978-0-9803977-5-8
Author: Ross Hodge and Justin Phillips
Final Report • 2023-05-05 • 2.86 MB
2017-224-DLD.pdf

Summary

First introduced in 2004, the Southern Rocklobster Limited Clean Green Program was developed as an integrated pot-to-plate Product Standard with independent third-party auditing of practices. During the period 2013 to 2015 the Clean Green Program was considerably updated for the first time to address the introduction of AMSA’s National Standard for Commercial Vessels, resulting in greater industry adoption with approx. 60% increase in vessel use across the 3-year period. The re-alignment of the Clean Green Program to address new and changing legislative requirements e.g. the introduction of the National Standard Commercial Vessels by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and new Work, Health & Safety requirements, had been the key driver for the increased support from industry. This highlighted the need for the Clean Green Program to continue to evolve to address regulatory changes and, accordingly, the required updating of program content (in consultation with Regulators). This project was required to adapt 21st century technology to deliver a digitised, operationally focussed, Clean Green Program that can be more efficiently updated and disseminated to industry.  

Bursaries for emerging leaders in the Southern Rock Lobster industry to attend the 2023 Trans-Tasman Lobster Congress and International Conference & Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management 2023

Project number: 2022-189
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $12,000.00
Principal Investigator: Tom T. Cosentino
Organisation: Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL)
Project start/end date: 31 May 2023 - 4 Jan 2024
:
TAGS
Capacity Building

Need

SARLAC, SANZRLFA, TRLFA, VRLA, ARLEA Executive Officers will provide two nominations to the SRL EO. The SRL EO will provide reimbursements to the nominees to the value of $1,200 each ($2,400 per sector) . Sectors may divide their allocation between more than two bursary recipients.

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