Indigenous fishing subprogram: Business opportunities and impediments for Aboriginal community development in supportive fishing industries in the Roper River to Robinson River area of the Northern Territory
Developing cost-effective industry based techniques for monitoring puerulus settlement in all conditions: Phase 2
Tactical Research Fund: Addressing the urgent need to identify viable refrigerant alternatives for use in the Northern Prawn Fishery
Evaluating the effectiveness of marine protected areas as a fisheries management tool
Effects of Trawling Subprogram: mapping bycatch & seabed benthos assemblages in the GBR region for environmental risk assessment & sustainable management of the Queensland east coast trawl fishery
Sustainable Fishing Families: Developing industry human capital through health, wellbeing, safety and resilience
By developing an evidence-based health and safety training program for Australian fishing communities, this project meets the needs of the commercial wild-catch and aquaculture industry identified in FRDC’s RD&E Program 3, ‘Communities’ and particularly theme 10, which promotes resilient and supportive communities who are able to adapt to the social impacts of change in industry business environments.
The project will address a national need, identified by VicFRAB, to better understand the social and economic contribution of commercial fisheries, by identifying and addressing potential losses incurred through the poor health and wellbeing of the industry’s human capital.
Fishers tend to work in rural and remote communities, which means they have higher rates of mortality, disease and health risk factors than urban dwellers, further impacted by reduced access to primary health care services. Fishers are at particular risk of certain kinds of illnesses (eg. skin and diet-related), as well as injury (fatality rates are more than double those in the agricultural sector). Mental health concerns are higher than average in the fishing industry, exacerbated by uncertainties within the industry including often high debt and insecurity of tenure and licencing. While both women and men are at risk, 86.9% of fishers are male, a factor placing them at greater risk of suicide.
Fisher ‘attitudes’ also impact health, such as the culture of self-reliance, particularly among males. This may make fishers resilient, but also makes them less likely to adopt preventative health practices or to use health services, and they will usually wait longer before seeking medical assistance, particularly for issues of chronic poor mental health.
The Sustainable Fishing Families project will benefit fishing families’ health, safety and resilience by promoting a self-awareness of the value of the industry’s human capital, and building their health capacity.
Final report
Project products
Informing inter-jurisdictional snapper management in eastern Australia
People development program: Primary industries health and safety collaborative partnership 2012-2015
About 150 persons die from non–intentional injury each year on Australian farms. Between 300 and 350 male farmers and farm workers die a traumatic death from all causes each year. The mortality rate in Australian farming is approximately four times that of the all-industries rated (19.5 per 100,000 employees compared to 5.5 per 100,000 employees) (Durey and Lower, 2004).
The rate of workers compensation claims from agriculture, forestry and fishing in 2001-2002 was 27 per thousand employees. There are about 4,500 claims each year made by workers in the agricultural and horticultural industries. Also self employed farmers are not obliged to report injuries so that the incidence reported may be an underestimate.
In the four years 1989-1992 a total of 55 people were fatally injured while involved in work related fishing industries (NOHSC, 1999). Between 1991 and 2001 a total of 16 professional fishermen drowned as a result of falling or being washed from commercial fishing vessels in Victorian waters.
Available statistics indicate that there is a higher rate of suicide among rural populations generally, and farmers in particular. For example, in the period 1988 to 1997, 921 suicides were identified for farm managers and agricultural labourers (Page & Fragar, 2002). The ABS reports that between 1988 and 1998, the suicide rate was up to 17 per 100,000 persons per year in rural areas, compared to 12-13 per 100,000 in the capital cities.
The health status and determinants of health (e.g. death rates, income etc) are generally worse in rural and remote areas than in metropolitan areas. There is a need to identify factors that contribute to this discrepancy, particularly as it is likely to apply to farmers and fishers.
There is a prevailing opinion that many farm and fishing injuries and deaths are preventable.
Lack of awareness of occupational health and safety, and a culture of safety, still fails to be effectively dealt with across all States of Australia. The OHS data identifies that the commercial fishing industry has rates of claims that are average for the overall Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry sector, but that claims for fatal injuries in aquaculture and non fatal in marine (or wild capture) fisheries are both increasing relative to employment. The most ‘at risk’ group in the industry are those between the age of 20 to 24 years, with those aged 45 – 54 years being the next most at risk
group, and will receive injuries from non powered hand tools, to their upper bodies
Final report
FRDC invested in the Primary industries health and safety collaborative partnership - there is no final report, however the following three (3) products were developed:
- Health and Safety in the Australian Fishing Industry - RIRDC Publication No. 11/021
- Adoption of Health and Safety Change on Australian Farming and Fishing Enterprises - RIRDC Publication No. 10/222
- RIRDC Completed Projects in 2009 - 2010 and Research in Progress as at June 2010
Project products
Seafood CRC: new opportunities for underutilised species
Approximately 25,000 tonnes of finfish is not harvested in Australia each year, even though operators are licensed to do so. This is because the fish have a low market value (leatherjacket), are difficult to process (Boarfish), are very fragile and require an exacting supply chain to reach the market in satisfactory condition (sardines, Australian Salmon) or are harvested from remote areas with inadequate support infrastructure. Additional tonnage is harvested but directed to low value products such as pet food, bait and aquaculture feed (sardines, mackerel, silver warehou, bonito tuna). There are also areas (e.g. Western Deep Trawl) where little is know about the fishery resource and potential
for commercialization. And there are also fish discarded after being caught due to low market value or insufficient space for storage. Each of these under-utilised species can be used to produce high quality, fresh and processed products that could help meet the increasing demand for seafood.