The Australian prawn wild catch sector has had significant decline with the financial crisis in Australia. The industry comprises of more than 1000 small businesses throughout Australia with little or no capacity to coordinate investment in and manage industry development. Recovering lost industry value and delivering future growth is contingent upon coordinated investment in industry development at the whole of industry level.
The ACPF is now established and well positioned with the CRC to implement its strategic plan and to integrate R&D work across all stakeholders under its leadership. Two distinct needs are involved in any consideration of better national R&D co-ordination for the prawn sector:
1. The strategic issues of R&D prioritization, funding and the linkages to (and support for) both industry development plans and Government objectives of industry development.
2. The operational issues of facilitating effective communication and coordination at all levels (industry/researchers, among researchers, among industry, FRDC and researchers, etc).
Final report
This project aimed to facilitate prawn industry participation in Seafood CRC projects and the extension and utilisation of the project results, particularly in relation to the development of new products and new markets. The planning, implementation and reporting of R&D projects conducted by the Seafood CRC was coordinated to achieve the outcomes specified in the ACPF Strategic Plan.
Selection of R&D projects to be undertaken by the Seafood CRC was determined by a Research Subcommittee established by the ACPF. The output of many early projects identified gaps and set priorities for subsequent research projects. The research and extension manager facilitated communication with the industry to encourage implementation and adoption of research outcomes.
The early projects identified these areas as having the greatest potential to provide enduring benefits for the Australian wild caught prawn industry were Value Chain Analysis, Quality Assurance and the National Prawn Marketing Strategy. These projects have breathed new life and enthusiasm into the industry. Through the uptake of the outcomes of these three areas of Seafood CRC projects, the outcomes of other lesser known Seafood CRC projects (such as nutritional profiles) are being disseminated and adopted by the industry.
