Current RD&E Plan

Investing for tomorrow’s catch: the FRDC’s Research, Development and Extension Plan 2010–2015 is the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation’s core strategic document relating to its investment in the fishing and aquaculture industry. As the principal source of information about the FRDC’s policies, programs and operations, the plan:

• describes the FRDC;
• defines its business environment;
• lays down, against the business environment, the FRDC’s planned outcomes for the period 2010 to 2015; and
• outlines the framework for R&D investment that will address national strategic challenges and priorities, and contribute to achieving its planned outcomes.

 

A vision for the future

While the FRDC adopts a 5-year perspective for its detailed planning, it takes a 20-year perspective in framing its long-term requirements for RD&E to support a profitable, resilient and sustainable Australian fishing industry. This is the fifth strategic plan that the FRDC has published since its inception in 1992. At that time the major focus was on research concerning the management of commercial wild-catch fisheries and, to a lesser extent, aquaculture. Since 1992, the scope has widened greatly to encompass economic, environmental and social aspects of the entire fishing and aquaculture industry — that is, the recreational and indigenous customary sectors in addition to the commercial wild-catch and aquaculture sectors. Scanning the horizon for challenges and opportunities is a continual process for the FRDC.

A complex RD&E environment

The fishing and aquaculture industry is characterised by its diversity of stakeholders and activities, geographic distribution and high number of species utilised. Most of the industry’s business environments are made more complex by their dependence on access to natural resources that are publicly managed in the interests of present and future generations. Fishing and aquaculture RD&E has to be well tuned to the many diverse —and often competing — uses of aquatic resources.

 

The FRDC sets its strategic directions by facilitating and consolidating the views and priorities of all its key stakeholders. Our programs incorporate responses to a wide range of Australian Government priorities, including the National Research Priorities and the Priorities for Rural R&D relevant to the FRDC; and to the priorities of the three main sectors of the fishing and aquaculture industry - commercial (comprising wild-catch, aquaculture and post-harvest); recreational; and indigenous customary.

A triple-bottom line approach

The FRDC and its stakeholders are focused on what the Corporation has adopted as its vision:

• A vibrant Australian fishing and aquaculture industry, adopting world-class research to achieve prosperity and to wisely use the natural resources on which it depends

• “Prosperity” in this sense encompasses not only the financial wellbeing of the commercial sector but also the many social and environmental values related to the commercial, recreational and indigenous customary sectors.

• The plan’s programs and themes describe the RD&E priorities to achieve this vision.

 

The RD&E Plan is available in hard copy by contacting the FRDC; or electronically for download.