National Priority Two- Improved productivity and profitability of fishing and aquaculture

Improved productivity and profitability of fishing and aquaculture

As part of the 2015-2020 FRDC RD&E Plan, the FRDC will allocate a significant portion of the Australian Government’s public-good funding it receives to take the lead in priority setting for RD&E with a national focus.

Australia’s fishing and aquaculture industry is in a good position to capitalise on the greater global demand for seafood. The world’s population is growing along with global wealth, especially with an expanding Asian middle class.

While these factors raise the prospect for increased trade of fishing and aquaculture resources, Australia is also entering into free trade agreements with a number of Asian countries. The benefits of these agreements are likely to be reduced costs and an increase in the volume of product traded.

Greater use of what has traditionally been ‘waste’, including bycatch and discard species in commercial fisheries, is another way of improving the value of production.

Productivity and profitability are regularly a top priority for those in aquaculture and commercial fishing, and increasingly so in the Indigenous and recreational sectors. It will be important for each sector to understand its goals in this area and what its strengths and weakness are in terms of opportunities and threats.

Research Priorities

Research, Development and Extension Plan

The strategic direction of National Priority 2 is outlined in the FRDC’s 2015-2020 RDE Plan.

For 2019-20 the key focus for National Priority 2 is:

• Implement new approaches to industry development and innovation,
• progress the development of the Easy Open Oyster,
• deliver innovation acceleration programs to assist industry development,
• develop new ways to utilise underutilised species and further improve post-harvest waste,
• invest in R&D projects to improve efficiency in wild fishery capture methods, and
• work towards understanding the social and economic contributions of recreational fishing in Australia.

Call for Applications

The FRDC invests through a flexible approach. Part of this approach allows the Research Advisory Committees (RACs), Industry Partnership Agreements (IPAs) and Subprograms to call for applications based on their priorities up to three times per year in November, April and August – see whether this IPA has put forward any priorities in the current call for applications.

FRDC Management Contacts:

Chris Izzo – FRDC Portfolio Manager (M 0419 852 723; E christopher.izzo@frdc.com.au)

Meeting dates: See – Events

Related projects are listed below