The seafood industry has experienced significant profitability problems in recent years. Part of this lies with its operational focus and lack of self promotion, especially as compared to its competitors in the Australian market – meat, chicken and pork. As a result, the volume of seafood consumption is relatively low, especially in homes. At the same time, import competition has developed rapidly, exposing the industry to even greater price and volume pressure. For the industry to be successful a range of changes are required, but promotion to improve both volume and price is an urgent need.

The task now is to take the outcomes of this process to industry, explain the program and benefits in detail and receive feedback as to how the program can be adjusted to best suit the needs of each seafood sector/species.

A broad strategy for seafood promotion generally has been prepared and a specific strategy for the Australian market. The next step is to take these strategies to industry, explain what is proposed, receive further sector/species input and seek support for SEA and its strategies.

One of the major implications of climate change is the large-scale redistribution of species; as the environment changes, species shift in response to keep track of preferred environmental conditions.
This is happening faster in the ocean compared to land, and species are moving greater distances where the warming is greater (Chen et al 2011 Science) - such as the southeast of Australia.

To best respond to these changes we need to ensure 1/ we have an early indication of how species are shifting (what might be new opportunities?) and 2/ our industries and communities are aware of these changes and accepting of the science underpinning management responses. Redmap takes advantage of the collective observations and geographical area covered by fishers and divers to provide detailed, verifiable and low-cost observations of how and when our marine ecosystems are changing. Information collected can address key knowledge gaps in partnership with the southeast’s marine industries and coastal communities. Critically, it is also a valuable proven tool to promote awareness of climate change impacts. Range shifts is a concept which is tangible, visual and easily understood, in contrast with complicated computational projections or analyses which are not readily grasped (or indeed trusted) by the general community. Up to 80% of fishers do not believe climate change is occurring, or that it will affect their industry, yet given Australia approach of co-management it is absolutely critical that industry and community acknowledge climate change as a risk so they may better respond and adapt in a timely manner to the challenges ahead.

This project directly addresses high level objectives in the SEAP/DAFF deed, which are to:
• facilitate fishing and aquaculture sectors to make informed decisions on adapting to climate change; For example, as new species are reported to Redmap in a new jurisdiction, stakeholders will be able to consider the potential of future fishing opportunities.
• inform decisions on fisheries management arrangements to ensure they are responsive to a changing environment. For example, as new species are reported to Redmap in a new jurisdiction, fisheries managers will be able to review available data and consider the appropriateness of current management controls such as catch limits, closed seasons and size limits.

In terms of the existing DAFF deed milestones, this proposal clearly aligns with 'information products of climate change implications for the sectors'. It has demonstrated capacity to help increase awareness amongst the fishing and non-fishing community - increased awareness is a pre-requisite for effective stakeholder engagement and ultimately adaptation.

There is a growing need to establish fishing industries as environmentally sustainable within Australia and internationally. The needs stems from both an economic marketing aspect and a growing community expectation. It is also important for fishing industries to understand that they contribute to marine impacts on a broader ecological scale. Whilst the principles of Ecosystem Based Fishery Management (EBFM) have been established for over a decade, it is only in recent years that EBFM frameworks have begun to be developed and applied by Government agencies (e.g. Fletcher et al 2010, West Coast Bioregion of Western Australia).

The environmental impacts of benthic trawl fisheries require greater attention than most other fishing methodologies, primarily due to their impact on the benthic environment, by-catch species and associated communities. As a critical impactor on marine bioregions, it is important that future ecological research for benthic trawl fisheries is prioritised and conducted in a manner that fits within a broader EBFM framework.

Concomitantly, there is an increasing interest from fishing industries to seek third-party certification of environmental sustainability for eco-labelling of their products and subsequent market advantage. These Program's require fisheries to meet standards that are often higher than the levels required by the Commonwealth Government to meet conditions of the EPBC Act. Although such accreditations are accompanied by substantial documentation of management practices, it is difficult for non-accrediated fisheries to benchmark themselves against accredited "best practice" industries.

This project aims to develop a reporting framework for environmental assessment of prawn trawl fisheries in Australia. By using the Marine Stewardship Certification accredited Spencer Gulf Prawn Trawl Fishery as a case study, the report will provide other Australian prawn trawl fisheries 1) a benchmark of third party accredited environmental management, and 2) a tool for prioritising and conducting their own ecological research within an EBFM framework.