Overseas experience demonstrates how diseases reduce profitability, sustainability and competitiveness of aquatic animal industries (for references see ATTACHMENT 6). Despite a rapid and continuous expansion in aquaculture, Australia has not experienced significant disease emergencies in farmed aquatic animal populations. However, pilchard mortality events in 1995 and 1998 have provided warning signals and demonstrated the need to increase our capability to respond to – and preferably prevent – aquatic animal disease outbreaks.

Since 1992, the FRDC as the biggest research investor has contributed more than $11million to over fifty projects related to aquatic animal health. Due to project diversity and cross-linkages to several FRDC Programs and existing Subprograms, well-facilitated project management is a fundamental requirement to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in delivering and extending results and would be facilitated by a dedicated Subprogram with its leader and supporting infrastructure.

With the development of a strategic R&D plan for aquatic animal health as a highest priority task, the Subprogram would contribute to preventing duplication of research, increase cooperation amongst researchers and thus achieve one of AQUAPLAN’s key priority objectives. It would thus underpin stability in aquatic animal health research and provide a greater level of service to research output beneficiaries.

The FRDC Subprogram would not only manage traditional R&D projects, but also develop Program Activity Plans and deliver projects under an AFFA/FRDC Agreement ([…] for the delivery of Program Activities under the Building of a National Approach to Animal and Plant Health program). FRDC will be advised by FHMC’s AQUAPLAN Business Group (ABG), chaired by ASIC and NAC, fulfilling the role of the Subprogram steering committee. Thus, the national approach can be developed in tandem to the R&D strategy, and guaranteeing links among the two. Significant components of the AQUAPLAN Workplan could be achieved.

ETBF Pilot Progect
In 2007, an AFMA commissioned cost benefit study and business case showed reduced costs if electronic monitoring technologies were adopted in several Commonwealth fisheries. However, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the extent to which onboard observer coverage can be replaced in the ETBF and the costs involved in intergrating electronic monitoring into AFMA management practices. This pilot project will collect suffiecient information to enable an in-depth cost benefit analysis of future monitoring options. It will resolve the uncertainty surrounding the utility of electronic monitoring technologies in the ETBF and the costs associated with integrating an electronic monitoring program within AFMA.

In addition to the time and cost savings from reduced onboard observer requirements, there are also potential efficiencies for both industry and AFMA from the use of electronic monitoring reporting. Some of these efficiencies include;
1. better understanding of fishing effort,
2. better understanding and management of fishing operations, and
3. increased data accuracy (resulting in more responsive fisheries management).

Pilbara Trawl Fishery Pilot Project
Monitoring of remote small vessel fisheries in Australia is often difficult and always costly. Travel costs, observer wages, and operational inefficiencies and restrictions of small vessels in accommodating on-board observers are all factors which act to restrict monitoring coverage while still incurring a relatively high cost to industry. With the a growing need for accurate catch and effort data and the high costs and operational restrictions of using human observers there is a subsequent need to find a cost-effective alternative that will not only improve coverage levels but also reduce costs.