The seafood industry operates in a diverse and dynamic environment and although the volume produced in Australia is small by world standards, the quality of our product and sustainability of our practices are globally recognised. For the seafood industry to continue to be a world leader in seafood production and quality there must be an opportunity to learn from each other and plan for the future.

The role of Seafood Directions is to provide an opportunity for stakeholders of the seafood industry to review and discuss priority issues and future planning and development.

This need is supported by key stakeholders of the seafood industry, as is evident by the number of delegates previously attending the biennial conference.

Despite several successful Seafood Directions conferences there is a need to look at how the conference is run and what its focus is. There is a real need to engage the whole supply chain sector from fisher to consumer.

The significant drivers which inform the People development program, and directly relating to this project are:
There is a shortage of industry leaders in all sectors of the fishing industry.
There is an urgent need to develop people within all sectors who have the skills to effectively contribute to debate and policy development for significant challenges, including access to fish resources.
Early career researchers and emerging industry leaders lack opportunities for formal mentoring and professional development.
The fishing industry will need to learn from other industries that have embraced a knowledge and innovation culture, and seek to profit from new opportunities to grow their businesses.
The industry is geographically dispersed and fragmented, and needs opportunities to learn within and across sectors.
The fishing industry is highly complex, and decision makers need to be informed by accurate information and knowledge.

Dan Gwinn is an internationally renowned quantitative ecologist with technical expertise in several key areas that will benefit the management of Australia’s fisheries. Of particular interest to FRDC are his expertise in parameter estimation, monitoring design, and fisheries modeling. Dr Gwinn is experienced in developing innovative estimation methods to specifically deal with the inherent issues with imperfect data as is the case for fisheries and ecological research. Dr Gwinn’s work in this area has focused on the customization of statistical models to account for the specific idiosyncrasies of data sets to best extract biological information and inform the management decision process. Often, this work had included developing innovative analyses of existing data sets to answer new questions. Dr Gwinn also has expertise in use of analysis tools including the application of stochastic simulations for evaluating and optimizing experimental and monitoring designs, which are particularly useful for determining the most fiscally efficient sampling designs for meeting monitoring objectives.

We propose to facilitate a study tour for Dr Gwinn to enable him to meet with fisheries researchers and managers from several jurisdictions to review and discuss key freshwater and marine projects, present to the research and management community on innovative methods being employed in the United States to address common issues, and workshop strategies to enhance adoption of R&D outputs.

We believe that this visit will deliver significant benefit to the future management of Australia's fisheries resources.

Oyster farmers are increasingly trying to diversify their crop by purchasing hatchery-sourced oyster spat, in addition to wild-caught oysters. In order to take full advantage of the increase in commercially available hatchery spat, farmers want to be able to purchase seed directly from hatcheries, in addition to purchasing seed from land-based nurseries. Currently, hatchery-produced spat is held in a land-based commercial nursery for up to 6 months until it reaches a size that can be handled (>4mm) by oyster farmers using conventional trays, baskets, and tumblers. Floating Upweller Systems (FLUPSY) are a proven technology that provide farmers overseas the infrastructure required to grow delicate nursery stage oyster seed at a significantly faster rate than sock/tray and land-based nursery methods. By enhancing the husbandry of nursery oysters, growers will cultivate a more robust crop and will reduce the cultivation time, increasing profitability. FLUPSYs can also be solar powered which is a practical, affordable and sustainable technology that would significantly benefit oyster farmers with limited land-based access that wish to diversify and grow their businesses. There is a need to bring an expert to Australia to assess the feasibility of FLUPSYs in Australia, including the application and construction of FLUPSYs in Australian systems. FLUPSY technology has been pioneered and developed extensively among oyster farms in the USA and Canada, supplying an increasingly affordable, sustainable and accessible technology for oyster businesses of varying scales. Therefore, current information about the application of FLUPSYs will be well received within the Australian oyster industry.

Australian and Canadian fisheries face the challenges of evolving domestic and international policies, the move to full implementation of ‘ecosystem’ and ‘integrated’ management approaches, and increasing market (and general public) pressure for certification of sustainability. The evolving landscape of management demands increased participation of fishers in management processes and shared stewardship responsibility, along with the need to adapt to changes in the ecosystem and public perceptions of sustainability. Several individuals and groups in Australia and elsewhere are wrestling with these issues. The need to develop sound and workable methods of implementing ecosystem based approaches to fisheries, has as one of its outcomes a benefit of generating reportable benchmarks of management performance that can generate increased public trust in the management of common resources. At this time there is need for a review of the approaches and priorities that have been developed around ecosystem based approaches to management, how easily and effective they are to implement, and how these can contribute to the generation of a ‘licence to manage’ for fisheries management agencies.