The seafood industry needs to have a Standards setting body that can develop Australian Standards specifically for the seafood industry.

SSA has successfully fulfilled this role since 2005 when it was one of the first organisations to be successfully accredited by Standards Australia as a Standards Development Organisation.

The first Australian Standard to be developed by SSA was the Australian Fish Names Standard (AS SSA 5300) which was accredited as an Australian Standard in 2007.

SSA is ceasing to operate as at the end of July or soon after.

The end result of this is that either:
a. Administration of the AFNS and all IP can be handed back to Standards Australia as per the terms of accreditation; or
b. Standards Australia can assign administration of the AFNS and all associated IP to another SDO with a similar scope.

As there are no other like organisations with a similar scope, it is important that a seafood industry organisation be accredited as soon as possible to assume control of the standard.

While the AFNS is a current and will stay in place for 5 years, it is not the type of standard that can be left static. Its strength is that it is continually being amended as species names are added and amended.

In addition to the Australian Fish Names Standard, there are some additional standards that are being proposed
• 2015 Australian Standard for Responsible Fishing on Vessels
• 2015 Australian Standard for Responsible Fisheries Management
• 2015 Australian Standard for Chain of Custody in Seafood
• 2015 Australian Standard for Common Language in Seafood

FRDC is a moist appropriate organisation to be accredited as an SDO. Initial discussions with ABSDO are very positive and the fact that FRDC is ISO accredited is a huge bonus.

In the past few years, the fishing sector has come under intense scrutiny for the poor management of bycatch, especially threatened, endangered and protected species, and incidentally caught shark species. It has been ten years since the development of the commonwealth and national bycatch policies and circumstances and issues relating to bycatch management have changed considerably from a domestic and international perspective.

Outputs/outcomes from a review of existing Australian bycatch policies will assist in delivering the following:
- streamlining current approaches for the management of bycatch and threatened, endangered and protected species, to reduce regulatory and financial burden to fishers and fisheries managers while increasing the effectiveness of minimising bycatch;
- increase the confidence of consumers that the management of Australian fisheries and production of seafood can be sustainable;
- further advancing claims that Australia has sustainably managed fisheries that link with domestic and international legislative and policy objectives.

It has been widely recognised that Australia needs to adopt a more coordinated, cross-jurisdictional approach to allow for more efficient and effective research and development. The jurisdictions across Northern Australia (NT, Qld and WA) would benefit from this approach as they often share tropical wild stocks, research priorities and occupy similar markets. Collaboration amongst these jurisdictions would deliver better science outcomes by consolidating capability, coordinating the development of new capability, improving networks and stimulating innovation. Social and economic benefits would be realised through more effective resource management and each jurisdiction’s ability to attract investment in business, infrastructure and research would be strengthened. Apart from setting in place a shared vision of tropical fisheries and aquaculture R&D a partnership would facilitate a coordinated approach to significant social R&D.

This proposal directly addresses the National RD&E Strategy for Fishing and Aquaculture that aims to improve the focus, efficiency and effectiveness of RD&E by adopting a more national and co-ordinated approach.

It is essential that the visions of Indigenous communities are accepted in holistic terms.

It is also important to note that while the visions of Indigenous communities could be the same or similar, they will also be independent due to the inherent cultural diversity of each community in relation to traditions, sites, stories and cultural practices.

Distinct rights exist for Indigenous people as part of their rights to self-determination. These rights should be recognised as inherent and holistic. They are:

• Customary fishing rights of Indigenous communities along the coastal and river systems; and
• Human rights to maintain a cultural economy

Customary rights relate to cultural self-determination and the preservation of distinctive cultural identities.

Human rights to maintain a ‘cultural economy’ relate to Indigenous communities being able to undertake activities that secure sustainable capital from the natural resources that traditionally and historically belong to each community.

Indigenous people want to be actively involved at all levels of management of fisheries resources throughout their traditional lands.

Indigenous people are very proud that they have survived the onslaughts of colonisation, assimilation and different forms of indoctrination and discrimination.

Indigenous communities believe that economic, cultural, environmental and social values should be given equal status when policy and management decisions are made.

A strong level of interest and enthusiasm for Indigenous involvement in the seafood industry already exists within Victoria’s Indigenous communities, but many communities are often unaware of the opportunities available or are unable to adequately assess them.

Numerous Indigenous communities have recognised that opportunities are not being made available within their regions to retain their youth. Many groups believe that economic development (particularly in the seafood sector) may act as a logical pathway to retaining youth and achieving more healthy vibrant communities and futures for their families.

This project answers all the criteria for the development of a new species of aquaculture (according to FRDC strategic plan, namely:
1) Market driven. There is strong and increasing demand for octopus products, both in Australia and overseas. Demand far outstrips the supply.
2) Being driven by industry with significant existing investment. Fremantle Octopus has already invested over $2 million in R&D and is currently the biggest octopus fishing company in Australia. Occoculture has been specifically established to develop an octopus aquaculture facility and is in the process of raising private equity to assist in funding of the project. Both companies are an integral part of this project.
3) The cost of production will be less than the farm gate price. In the Mediterranean, raw octopus has been selling at up to AU$70/kg in the 2007/08 season. This compares with a current price of AU$11/kg for local stocks. A conservative cost analysis of production is $9/kg. On a value-added basis, wholesale sales in Australia can achieve $40/kg (retailing at $50 to $55/kg) with a 60% gross profit margin. In the European marketplaces, value-added products may achieve up to $100/kg, giving a gross profit margin of 82%.
4) The species is endemic to Australia and builds on an established high value wild caught market with high export potential.
5) There exists the planning framework and access to resources to allow for the timely and orderly development of the project. The two staged R&D plan (i.e. ranching optimization and hatchery techniques development) will ensure immediate implementation of the project outcomes.

Octopus aquaculture is gaining strong interest in SA and Victoria. It is envisaged that the technology developed through this project will be transferable to other ventures in these states.