The development of a new aquaculture species in Australia presents a number of commercial challenges As with all such ventures, there are issues concerning access to the market, supply of fingerlings the need for investors to secure a return on their capital, etc. There are also plenty of unknowns about the growth, nutrition, processing, market size, consumer acceptance etc. that are worthy of investigation and if solved would benefit all cobia producers.

The opportunity is to develop a collaborative, whole of chain approach to launching this new species so that the market is carefully developed and supplied with fish of consistent quality at economically sustainable prices.

To achieve this there is first a need to understand the overall feasibility of Australian farm-grown cobia and to identify market gaps that the development of Cobia could fill. Secondly there are issues surrounding collaborative industry development that need to be explored. Experiences with business cluster development seem highly relevant to the development of the Cobia industry. In fact it has been found by Waite (2001) that Australian firms are insignificant in the global market but if they compete collabratively through the formation of a cluster have the ability to combine their strengths to raise their competitiveness and take advantage of growing markets. There is a need therefore to better understand the cluster development concept and to explore how this can be applied within this context. Can the cluster concept work with the businesses located so far away from each other and is there enough commonality in their business development aspirations to overcome the disadvantages of working independently while attempting to establish and further penetrate the market with a relatively unknown species?

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This proposal will address the FRDC Recfishing Research priority area "Assessing the impact of recreational fishing methods on conservation values of aquatic habitats" as announced in the 2012 Annual Competitive Round Call for Expressions Of Interest. After making inquiries with seabird rescue organisations, it has become apparent that seabird entanglements in discarded fishing tackle is of major concern. Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital report that their rescue unit responded to approximately 300 calls for bird entanglements in discarded fishing tackle in 2011 (to August 1). Further, the Rescue Hotline of Pelican and Seabird Rescue Inc. have received approximately 400 calls in 2011 (to the time of writing - 10/9/2011). These figures are unacceptable and measures need to be taken to decrease the incidence of seabird interactions with discarded recreational fishing tackle. The injuries that result from these interactions are often catastrophic, with a high proportion of entangled animals being euthanised. Healthy Waterways has produced a provocative poster, attached, depicting a pair of budgerigars surrounded by fishing line and hooks. Such negative stereotypes need to be addressed and, as such, there is a need to educate recreational fishers as to the consequences of the careless discarding of fishing tackle. This subject was recently highlighted in a Queensland recreational fishing publication, Queensland Fishing Monthly (see attachment). Both recreational fishing representative groups, Sunfish and Ecofishers, have expressed concern regarding this issue. A fifteen minute search at a secluded recreational fishing location in the northern suburbs of Brisbane by two people resulted in the collection of the fishing tackle pictured in the attachment (13/09/2011 - Tingalpa Creek). Although this could be construed as an environmental problem and beyond the purview of FRDC, it certainly reflects poorly on recreational fishers and, as such, an extension/educational project would help alleviate the problems highlighted in this proposal.