Communication and extension have been identified by the Board as a priority activity on which more work is needed. In particular the last three AOP's for FRDC identified two key priorities under Challenge 5: Community and consumer support:
• Educate the community about fisheries and aquaculture management and its contribution to Australia.
• Communicate the benefits of government and industry investment in R&D.
As outlined under ‘Consultation’, the fishing industries have identified development of improved public communication packages based on easily understood information on sustainability of fish and fisheries as a high priority. At present the fishing industries have very little information available in a format that can be used to defend the industries’ status with regard to its long term sustainability and to demonstrate the effectiveness of Australian fisheries management.
Oceanwatch Australia, after identifying the need for the development of basic information on key species in a usable format, undertook a scoping project with co-investigator Professor Bob Kearney. This project provided an excellent template for the information, analyses and outputs required for this FRDC project. Oceanwatch Australia has agreed for the information developed in its study to be used and built on in this FRDC project.
