This project will continue the structured maintenance, expansion, and communication of the Australian Fish Names Standard (AS 5300) and the Australian Aquatic Plant Names Standard (AS 5301) over the next three-year reaccreditation audit cycle, building on the strong governance foundations of earlier related FRDC projects and under the Standards Australia framework.
The key deliverables of this new phase include:
• bring AS 5300 fully up-to-date by assessing and incorporating potentially 1,800 additional species/corrections, achieving complete and accurate coverage of Australia’s ichthyofauna;
• produce 70 Fact Files (50 fish, 20 aquatic plants) for industry, regulators, and consumers;
• publish new versions of the Fish Names Standard;
• appropriately archive and digitally link all historical documents and past name applications to improve transparency (for public files) and institutional memory;
• develop a formal appeals and complaints process, approved by Standards Australia;
• clarify the scope of the term “fish” in the Fish Names Standard;
• maintaining two committee meetings per year as per the Standards’ schedules;
• pilot processes for indigenous names inclusion;
• strengthening engagement with state fisheries departments and other stakeholders as direct partners in the use of Standard Names;
• explore pathways for mandating AS 5300, moving it from voluntary to regulatory use in food labelling and trade;
• improve and increase communication re the Standards via, as a minimum, social media and emails to stakeholders;
•. a stakeholder survey towards the end of the project to determine the effectiveness of the communication plan
• review composition of the two committees to ensure appropriate stakeholder representation and expertise.
The project will maintain two committee meetings per year for each Standard. While the original intention for this application was to reduce the in-person meetings to every third rather than every second as a cost-saving measure, two particular milestones have required us to continue the recent schedule of one in-person and one online meeting each year. These events are Seafood Directions in Sydney in July 2026, which will celebrate the opening of the new Sydney Fish Market (SFM). SFM was an early adopter of fish names and has been a staunch supporter for decades. The current Chair of the Fish Names Committee is SFM’s Head of Operations, Mr Gus Dannoun. The proposal is to hold SRB meetings in conjunction with Seafood Directions, as was done for the 2024 conference in Hobart. The second ‘event’ to consider is the 50th meeting of the FNC – a milestone that should be celebrated in-person rather than online. This is scheduled for February 2027, and the proposed location is Perth as the committees have not scheduled a meeting in Western Australia since 2003.
This new project directly supports the goals of improving food safety, consumer trust, and market transparency and will harmonise with the FRDC accreditation project, ensuring continued recognition of FRDC as a Standards Development Organisation.
