Gear modifications trialled in Project 2008/017 included: (1) a rigid-frame, steel mesh cod end and (2) a collapsible, nylon mesh cod end. These reduced bycatch of platypuses in fyke nets, and increased the likelihood of survival of other non-target species, without impacting the commercial eel catch.

However, the project identified some limitations with the gear modifications:

1. Clearing the catch from the rigid-framed nets was considerably easier than from the collapsible nets. However, the bulky construction of the rigid-framed nets restricted the numbers which could be safely transported on board a commercial 4m eel punt to a maximum of 2-3 nets. Feedback from industry has identified that operators would need to be able to transport and work at least 5-10 modified nets at once to justify the use of such nets from a commercial perspective.

2. The nylon mesh nets were more flexible and could be folded and stacked flat on the floor of a boat, allowing a larger number to be carried at once. However, the main disadvantage with this design is the difficulty in clearing the catch, as these nets are cumbersome to handle.

Industry has recognised that the gear modifications improved bycatch management in the fishery. However, the Victorian Eel Fishermen's Association has highlighted that the weaknesses described above are major impediments to the adoption by industry of the modified gear.

A key recommendation of project 2008/017 therefore was the further refinement of gear modifications to maximise the likelihood of uptake of the modified gear by industry. The Project Investigators and the Victorian Eel Fishermen's Association have identified a number of opportunities for the further development of the gear to improve its efficiency, and therefore increase the likelihood of uptake by industry. Such developments need to be made for industry to take full advantage of the project findings.

The 2008 Leadership Program review was conducted and provided information to the funders regarding the initial years of the leadership delivery. The present funding round will deliver another review of the program in the final report. This review will include graduates, program sponsors and industry organisations.

Rural Training Initiatives continues to anecdotally assess the processes and outcomes of the program through participant evaluations at the conclusion of each program residential and through conversation with the NSILP advisory group and industry stakeholders. This anecdotal feedback indicates that the program is much more than a positive learning experience.

The need for this project has been suggested in the above sections but there is further evidence of need provided by the goals of the FRDC’s People Development Program,
1. enhance industry leadership within all sectors;
2. build industry capacity to drive change to achieve goals

FRDC’s Working together: The National RD&E Strategy

Priority areas addressed through this project will be:
• identifying and understanding success drivers and factors in comparable industry and resultant opportunities for fisheries
• developing the leadership skills across all stakeholder groups
• understanding and developing strategies to enhance, decision-making and adoption practices
• developing business and business modelling capability
• building stakeholder capacity to move toward co-management of fisheries
• identifying and understanding factors that drive responsiveness or adoption of new practices and innovation and how these can be influenced
• building skills and networks that support knowledge transfer and R&D adoption
• building understanding, and commonality of objectives, between stakeholders, including researchers, managers, fishers and NGOs.