Australia’s fishing and aquaculture sectors continue to navigate a rapidly changing operating environment, with the middle east conflict having an immediate impact on fuel prices and supply which is affecting operations across all Australian fishing and aquaculture sectors and supply chains.
FRDC remains connected with Australian, Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments to consider responses and feed through industry sector intel from our networks, alongside our industry sector partners. The Federal Government has commissioned Agrifutures to lead a project focused on national food security preparedness and supply chain vulnerability to strengthen readiness for potential disruptions - starting with fuel supply chains - FRDC will support this work.
From ongoing fuel pressures to increasing competition for aquatic space, the challenges facing fishing and aquaculture sectors are ever increasing. Now more than ever, we need to look for the opportunities emerging through innovation, collaboration, research, development, extension and adoption, to create a stronger future for our sector.
At the recent ABARES Outlook Conference, I joined leaders from across agriculture and natural resources to discuss how these pressures are reshaping the way we use and manage our land and seas. A clear message emerged: ensuring the long-term sustainability and productivity of our fisheries and aquaculture sectors will require strong partnerships between industry, research and government. You can read about this here.
At FRDC we remain focused on investing in the science, innovation and capability that will help our sectors respond to these challenges and seize new opportunities. We are also looking at new ways of doing things, and thank everyone for your feedback so far on the consultation process we have been running on opportunities to reform our National research advisory committee (RAC) processes, specifically a proposal to investigate bio-regional research advisory committees that would move towards a more ecosystem based and collaborative cross jurisdictional model.
In this months FRDC News, we showcase how research is improving survival rates of South Australia’s important Snapper stocks, how women are setting the agenda at two major conferences, new opportunities for oysters in our far north, a look back at the Trawl Innovation Network – one year on, Plus, some different species to serve up at your Easter feast.
On behalf of everyone at FRDC, have a very safe and relaxing Easter.
