The SA State Government has made a commitment to reform the Marine Scalefish Fishery (MSF) that aims to provide long-term sustainability of key stocks for both recreational and commercial fisheries, and unlock the industries economic potential. The key reforms include a voluntary buy-back scheme targeting the removal of at least 30% of commercial licences and the introduction of new zoning and quota management regulations. The timeframe for the reforms will be determined in consultation with the industry. Details on the implementation strategy have yet to be developed, but will need to be underpinned by extensive stakeholder consultation and backed by research that provides confidence that among the approaches considered, those chosen will best deliver the intent of the reforms.

This project aims to develop an SA Gulfs and Coastal ecosystem model to provide a Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) tool to assess and optimise a range of reform scenarios. The project will link in closely with FRDC 2017/014 (Informing structural reform in the MSF), utilising many of its key outputs, including time series of spatial distribution of catch and effort, social-economic performance, and reform implementation scenarios. This project also will extend the investigation by integrating environmental time-series data to evaluate changes in productivity over time, identified as a potential factor in declining fisheries catches in the GSV ecosystem (FRDC 2013/031). Identifying the causes of productivity loss and its impact on fish production are important to resolve, especially in the context of the MSF reforms. Ultimately, the project aims to provide decision support tools to assess and evaluate the performance of diverse fisheries management strategies, and how these may perform under varying production regimes. Such an approach will provide a platform to evaluate and optimise the effectiveness of management strategies, and help ensure the fishery reforms achieve their key objectives.

The development of indicators to measure and monitor the performance of fisheries against economic objectives continues to challenge fisheries managers. To date economic metrics have focused on various measures of profitability, and this has been limited to relative few fisheries due to the costs and time involved in collecting the information.
The use of productivity analysis provides an alternative approach to measure and monitor performance in fisheries. It is a broad area of economic analysis that largely estimates how the level and combination of inputs used by fishers affects their level of output, revenue or profitability. From this, the level of efficiency within a fishery can be determined, and how this efficiency level changes over time can be monitored. The role of management in influencing efficiency can also be directly determined. Measures of capacity utilization also provide information on the level (and changes in) excess capacity, which can be used to develop a proxy measure for the optimal fleet size.
Many productivity measures can be derived from available logbook data, while more detailed measures can be obtained from the full economic data (e.g., socio-economics of fishers, vessel characteristics, environmental conditions). These approaches can also provide information about fisher behavior, such as targeting ability in multispecies fisheries, and their response to changes in price and costs, as well as provide information on what is driving changes in profitability (e.g., prices, costs or management). In addition, appropriate measures can be identified to assist managers bridge commercial and other fisheries sectors.
The application of these techniques in Australian fisheries has been limited, and their ability to provide cost-effective information useful for management has not been fully examined. Outside fisheries, productivity has proven to be a useful economic indicator and its potential in Australian fisheries needs to be assessed. This project will meet this need by asking: In what contexts do indicators of productivity and productivity change provide a useful addition to other measures of fisheries economic performance.

With fisheries resources under increasing pressure globally from both fishing and non-fishing activities, and the rapid expansion of aquaculture presenting both opportunities and challenges, there is a need to enhance cooperation and collaboration among fisheries professionals to ensure the world’s oceans and rivers are managed sustainably for the benefit of current and future generations.
The WFC2020 aims to attract fisheries professional worldwide by promoting an engaging program featuring internationally recognised keynote speakers that will prompt debate and discussion about new research, fisheries utilisation and access, and management implications and actions.
FRDC funding is sought to assist organisers generate successful outcomes by facilitating greater benefits and appeal to delegates. Funds will contribute to the overall Congress budget, and assist in providing dedicated resources to ensure successful planning and organisation of the event. This may include: attracting high profile international keynote speakers; world-class venue facilities; event promotion; and creating a legacy to the wider community.
This proposal addresses two of FRDC’s national priorities:
(i) Ensuring that Australian fishing and aquaculture products are sustainable and acknowledged to be so.
(ii) Improving productivity and profitability of fishing and aquaculture.
The WFC2020 provides an opportunity for the Australian and New Zealand seafood industries to demonstrate to the international fisheries community and the broader public that they are leaders in sustainable management of fisheries and aquatic systems, producing some of the highest quality sustainable seafood in the world. Furthermore, the Congress will provide the local fishing, aquaculture, recreational and indigenous sectors with unparalleled access to the latest research, technological developments and updates on global markets.
People Development is also addressed in this proposal, in encouraging knowledge transfer and R&D adoption within the international fisheries community and providing an opportunity for the Australian and New Zealand fishing industries to take a lead role in debating and discussing current and future research.