It is becoming increasingly important for Rural RDCs to continually monitor and evaluate the returns from RD&E investment, as government and industry require greater transparency and accountability of RD&E funds.

In addition to FRDC’s Statutory Funding Agreement requirements for valuing return on investment and use in its Annual Reports, impact assessments of FRDC’s RD&E investments are needed to inform:
– Future investment decisions
– CRRDC’s overall performance review of impact generated by RDCs
– Levy payers and government of the performance of investments.

GHD understands that the project will comprise two key components:
– An economic impact assessment of up to 20 research projects for the three-year period FY23/24, 24/25, and 25/26
– An individual and aggregated report of all assessed projects at the completion of assessments.

GHD notes that within this period the first five assessments for FY23/24 are required by June 2024 with the remainder of the projects, i.e. 10, due in September 2024. These assessments are required to be consistent with the CRRDC Guidelines for Impact Assessments. FRDC RD&E projects are to be assessed annually to meet Statutory Funding Agreement (SFA) requirements for valuing return on investment for use in FRDC’s Annual Reports and performance of FRDC’s investments.
In conducting the impact assessment project it will be important to note that one of FRDC’s key responsibilities is to ensure that research to assist management of fisheries and aquaculture resources is being undertaken to maintain ongoing sustainability. While the primary focus of these benefit-cost analyses over time has been economic impact, with references to environmental and social implications where appropriate, FRDC is increasingly interested in understanding the impact of R&D investments on environmental, social, and economic aspects more holistically.

Statistics on Australian fisheries production and trade seeks to meet the needs of the fishing and aquaculture industry, fisheries managers, policymakers and researchers. It can assist in policy decisions, industry marketing strategies and the allocation of research funding or priorities. The gross value of production for specific fisheries are used for determining the research and development levies collected by government.

The neutrality and integrity of GVP estimates is therefore important due to their forming the basis for research levies for each fishery. At the international level, the Department of Agriculture through the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) contributes to a number of international databases. These include databases managed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Information at the international level can assist in international negotiations on issues such as trans-boundary fisheries and analysis of trade opportunities.

The Northern Territory Seafood Council (NTSC) and the Northern Territory Government (NTG) recognise the vital need to bridge the knowledge gap regarding the economic impact of the NT seafood industry. This gap severely impedes effective advocacy for industry growth and development by the NTSC and hampers evidence decision-making. Without a comprehensive understanding of the industry's economic footprint throughout the supply chain of each major fishery/sector, it is challenging to address critical issues and identify vulnerable points within the sector.

A whole of fishery and sector analysis, will provide essential insights for targeted advocacy and informed decision-making, fostering sustainable growth, enhancing resilience, and addressing critical issues within the Northern Territory's seafood industry.

Understanding the complete value of the NT seafood industry to the local community is crucial for making strategic decisions related to negotiations such as those concerning Blue Mud Bay and infrastructure investments. It will also contribute to ongoing investment in the industry.

The project aims to test economic protocols and processes identified in FRDC Project 2021-034 to establish cost-effective and valued systems beyond its duration. These systems will incorporate socio-economic information into decision-making processes and shift the culture from a government-driven collection process to one driven by the industry.

Without a plan to highlight the wider socio-economic value and benefits of the industry, the industry may face mounting pressure on its social license to operate, impacting access, industry structure, and fees. Moreover, the lack of understanding regarding the consequences of uncertainty surrounding secure access and potential loss of access for commercial fishers may have unintended effects on the NT seafood industry. Additionally, the limited availability of current financial and economic information for NT fisheries hampers economic analysis and the provision of advice to policymakers and decision-makers, hindering opportunities for growth and sustainability.

With that context in mind, NTSC experience to date identifies a number of known issues with existing data, including:
- Limitations in the scope of data available which has historically excluded measurement of the contributions made by commercial charter fishing, processing of imported seafood, and activities downstream of immediate seafood processing (i.e. transport to retail markets, retail sector activity).
- The poor quality of economic data (such as production, price and employment data) necessary to improve estimates of direct or initial effects from fishing, aquaculture production and processing in some fisheries and for some sub-sectors and seafood processing (where there is a need to further disaggregate ANZSIC categories or investigate alternative means of measurement for fisheries with too few licence holders for data to be reported).
- Gaps in data regarding indirect contributions, including downstream production-induced and consumption-induced effects, where key data regarding employment, household-income and enterprise-level cost of production (i.e. expenditure on goods and services as inputs to fishing and aquaculture production) are unknown.
- Gaps in data for a range of monetised and non-monetised social, environmental and cultural activities which contribute value to individuals and communities. While previous estimations have referred to the social contributions of fisheries and aquaculture to regional communities this has not involved any primary data collection or analysis of secondary data, requiring further work to select specific indicators and the basis of evidence.

In scoping and analysing the available data, the project will use third party providers to:
- Ensure data collection methods are consistent and participant consent and privacy is achieved. The privacy of participants must be protected through adherence to the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), such that names of individuals are not recorded. Where the explicit informed consent of participants is required this may include a requirement to sign a consent form. Under circumstances where a vulnerable group is consulted, such as Indigenous Territorians, specific consent may be required from a Human Research Ethics Committee to ensure the data collection process causes no harm to participants.
- Ensure data storage is secure and access is limited to the reasonable requirements of the project. All digital data (i.e. from an online survey) would be stored on a secure network with file access restricted to the nominated project team through use of file encryption and passwords. Any primary data collected cannot be used for any purpose other than that required to meet study objectives.

Commercial in confidence. To know more about this project please contact FRDC.

Fish are totemic and a primary food source; and so are part of the deep cultural, spiritual and economic connections Aboriginal communities have to their waterways that are part of ‘Country’. Cultural knowledge tells us that when there’s more water availability cultural fishers experience increased total catches and greater diversity of target species, and they fish more (e.g. increase in recreational and subsistence fishing). These narratives also suggest that as a result of these improved cultural fishing opportunities, there are flow on socio-economic benefits to household budgets, diets of communities, social behaviours and mental health and well-being.

Water is sacred and living; and central to the cultural, social and spiritual identity of Aboriginal people, as well as to their livelihoods. Conceptual models underpinning western water management frameworks and decision making do not incorporate Aboriginal/First Nations socio-cultural complexity, local knowledge and governance arrangements. These are critical – Aboriginal/First Nations people have strong connections with fish, water, rivers and knowledge to contribute to planning, as well as a fundamental right to participate. Water and fish are central to the way of life, two-way knowledge and planning frameworks will support reciprocity in engagement and participation.

Two-Eyed Seeing Frameworks (Ganma, Yolgnu for two-ways) provide a way forward for cultural fishery assessments supporting equitable and sustainable access to shared resources. In this framework, knowledge systems (western and cultural) contribute in parallel, on an equal footing, and both serve as evidence bases to produce an enriched picture of mutual understanding. Application of this framework can empower Aboriginal communities to participate more equitably and negotiate by using their science and values and providing a method for inclusion.

The overall objective of this proposed project is to empower Aboriginal communities through application of a “Two-Eyed seeing framework” (Reid et al. 2020) to participate more equitably and negotiate for cultural fishing practices and water allocation and management. This project will define the cultural fishery and quantify the socio-economic value of cultural fishing in two NSW river regions, and assist communities to identify water management needs for key cultural fish species to support ongoing planning and negotiations. It will improve our current fishery and water management by providing a pathway for cultural fisheries and cultural science to be included. Overall, it will increase our current knowledge of fish and fisheries, by bridging the gap between cultural science and western science practitioners and knowledge holders to share understandings, insights and skills. The application and extension of this framework to a national project will be considered for future use in addressing cultural fishery allocations and management.

The proposed study will produce information about the supply-chain economic contribution of selected small scale fisheries in Western Australia, as well as a method that can be applied to making these estimates for other fisheries.

The proposed approach includes making three separate estimates of the supply-chain contribution of selected fisheries using three different levels of information: (1 – minimal cost) published fishery production data and a regional economic model that describes inter-regional flows using published statistical data, (2 – minimum consultation) the same as 1 but also including a workshop with key stakeholders to inform the assumptions, and (3 – maximum data) the same as 2 but also collecting primary data from businesses along the supply-chain. As such, the estimates produced for the selected fisheries using approach 3 will be of high quality and the recommended method described in the guidelines will be informed by a comparison of the cost and performance of undertaking the analysis using each level of information.

Three approaches to obtain supply chain data will be utilised and compared in this project. Below summarises the set of data sources within each approach.

Minimal cost approach
Fishery production statistics: Published production statistics (State of the Fisheries 2020/21*) or data request to DPIRD
Fishery financials and employment: Published profiles (if available) or matched fisheries (as per 2017-210)
Supply-chain flows: Analysis of regional input-output tables, taken as given
Supply-chain financials and employment: Analysis of regional input-output tables

Minimal consultation approach
Fishery production statistics: Published production statistics (State of the Fisheries 2020/21*) or data request to DPIRD
Fishery financials and employment: Published profiles (if available) or matched fisheries (as per 2017-210)
Supply-chain flows: Estimated by workshop with stakeholders, starting from input-output table estimates
Supply-chain financials and employment: Analysis of regional input-output tables

Maximum data approach
Fishery production statistics: Published production statistics (State of the Fisheries 2020/21*) or data request to DPIRD
Fishery financials and employment: Primary data
Supply-chain flows: Primary data
Supply-chain financials and employment: Primary data

* Newman, S.J., Wise, B.S., Santoro, K.G. and Gaughan, D.J. (eds) 2021, Status Reports of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of Western Australia 2020/21: The State of the Fisheries, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia.

Key to estimating the supply-chain flows for the low-data approaches, we will apply the direct coefficients from input-output tables within our RISE models to the value of each fishery to estimate the value of each node of the supply chain for each fishery. The input-output model tells us for each dollar of sales from the fishing sector there are sales to other sectors (i.e. processing, wholesale trade, retail trade, food services). Subsequently, those sectors also have sales to other sectors. By applying these coefficients in sequence we can estimate the value of each node of the supply chain. Data for input-output models are held by BDO and ultimately sourced from publications by ABS, RBA, ATO and other public organisations.

Under the minimal consultation approach, we will refine the supply-chain map developed under the minimal cost approach by eliciting judgement by key stakeholders. These stakeholders will have an idea of the size of the supply chain nodes and will be able to confirm or adjust the values according to their knowledge.

Under the maximum data approach, we will interview businesses along the supply chain in order to collect data to value each supply chain node. We will elicit the value of each business and the number and size of businesses at each node. Information on the number and approximate size of businesses at each supply chain node will be sought from industry participants at the workshop. Contact details for businesses willing to be involved in the interview process with also be sought at the workshop.

The Program is required to enable the economics research required over the next 3-4 years by retaining the WRL Economist and engaging a WRL Data Analyst to :

1. undertake research and demonstrate the effects of COVID-19 and international trade disruptions on the industry’s financial wellbeing and economic contribution, as a narrative incorporating the pre-, current and post-disruption era;

2. investigate and implement enhancements to the WRL MEY model based on verified stakeholder feedback;
• MEY modelling is based on (among other factors) expected longer-term beach prices for lobster achieved by fishers. Beach prices are themselves underpinned by prices achieved in domestic and export markets for live, frozen and other processed forms of western rock lobster, and supply chain costs — all of which have changed markedly over the past couple of years and have influenced the longer-term outlook considerably.
o Domestic markets have absorbed higher volumes of Australian product over the past two years than in the previous ten, encouraging a pivot by processors to include more cooked, frozen and other processed product in the product portfolio.
o Frozen and chilled product has also been demonstrated to have general acceptance in overseas markets, albeit at lower prices than achieved by similar live product.
o Air and sea freight costs and reliability have been adversely compromised in the face of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, with the medium-term outlook for freight costs expected to be a multiple of pre-COVID rates – affecting the relative attractiveness of domestic versus export markets.
o Processors and marketers have explored alternative export markets and paths to market in the wake of political uncertainty and trade disruptions. There is a need to understand the implications of this market shift on the net beach prices achievable by fishers, which will be achieved through a better understanding of the changes in market access and supply chain costs (transport, live holding, handling, additional processing, freight forwarding by air and by sea).
o Taken together, this suite of change constitutes a significant, and potentially longer-term, challenge to the western rock lobster industry that has high potential to bring about changes in industry structure.

3. research and implement mechanisms by which individual fishers / business owners can benchmark their businesses against relevant industry economic standards.

• Benchmarking aims to improve the internal performance of fishers' private business operations by providing each business with an opportunity to compare itself to the industry's performance
• Benchmarking is not limited to economic metrics, including physical metrics such as fuel use that enable a more granular understanding of the carbon footprint of the fishing fleet.
• The aim is to generate an understanding of the range of cost structures in the fishing fleet, to better inform the cost elements of MEY modelling for economic sustainability of the fishery.

4. investigate and implement enhancements to the WRL Global Trade Report.

• The pandemic and its ongoing turmoil, combined with trade disruptions to Australia’s live exports, has brought about a change in global lobster trade flows into the highest volume, highest value market – at Australia’s expense.
o The resultant situation includes a loss of market share and value to alternative suppliers of live spiny lobster, other lobster species, and other high value crustaceans.
o Consumer preferences have shown signs of changing in response to COVID and associated health policies, regulations and restrictions. During the course of the pandemic, consumption of rock lobster pivoted to at-home consumption, with some preference-shifting to frozen product, particularly in countries with aggressive health policies that enacted operating restrictions on restaurants and larger gatherings.

5. research and implement mechanisms by which WRL's Global Trade Report, MEY Model and Markets Dashboard would work together with DPIRD's Harvest Strategy to underpin TACC setting into the future, adding considerable benefit to government as the resource manager by supplying timely, independent, industry-oriented information to the consideration set