The biannual Seafood Directions conference, held this year from Oct.25 to Oct.27 in Perth, Australia, brought together experts from national and international seafood and fishing industries, government agencies, fisheries policy and decision makers as well as researchers.
With the theme 'Selling our Story,' attendants looked for strategies to successfully guide the industry into the future.
Western Australia fishing industry is worth AUD 1 billion (€645.5 million/$714.5 million) annually to the state's economy, while Australian aquaculture industry produces about 90,000 metric tons a year, and generated about AUD 1 billion (€645.5 million/$714.5 million) in revenues in 2013-2014.
The Western Australian Fishing Industry (WAFI) hosted the conference.
IntraFish provides a round-up of the most important subjects discussed below.
--------------------------------
Ambitious program for Western Australia's fisheries
Kim Walshe, program manager at the WA Department of Fisheries Certification Program, brought more than 35 years experience to bear when he addressed Seafood Directions at the 2015 conference.
Walshe talked about the Australian government investing AUD 14.5 million (€9.4 million/$10.4 million) in an initiative to establish a third party certification program to assess the sustainability of national commercial fisheries.
"The MSC approach integrates well with proposed new fisheries legislation in West Australia and planning framework that will create significant change in fisheries management and associated processes," he said.
West Australian MSC initiative is expected to provide a range of benefits to the seafood industry and consumers, including enhanced confidence in the management of est Australian fisheries and greater consumer certainty that products are sustainably fished.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
Legislative loophole costs Australian seafood industry millions each year
A legislative loophole is costing the Australian seafood industry "millions in lost revenue" from the lucrative restaurant and food service sector, Katherine Winchester, head of the Northern Territory Seafood Council, warned delegates.
A legislative gap that did not require the food service sector to clearly label the country of origin of the seafood products it sells in restaurants and fast food outlets effectively blocks the seafood industry from reaching its full potential.
“It is critical that this gap is removed,” she said.
“Failing to make this change is to remain trapped in a hoodwink that costs Australia millions of dollars each year and it will continue to limit Australia’s seafood industry to only one part of the available market share – the supermarket/retailer space,” she said.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
Tough decisions to protect fish stocks
Norman Moore, chair of the Federal Government's Australian Fisheries Management Authority, is defending tough decision-making by government regulators to protect the long-term interests of both the fishing and seafood industry, and consumers.
Moore said unpopular decisions have helped lead to the current global reputation Australia enjoys for having some of the world's best-managed and most sustainable fisheries.
"Australia is now internationally recognized for our sustainable fisheries and the science and management that underpins it," Moore said.
As an example, he mentioned the case of the orange roughy, which was overfished in the late 1980s and early 1990s and had not been given a fishing quote ever since until earlier this year, when they reopened the fishing season for the species for the first time.
"This would not have been possible without hard, and often unpopular decisions being made," he said.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
Calls growing louder for sustainably funded peak body
The Australian seafood industry is well-placed to grow and prosper, however, to survive the many challenges it faces, it needs a sustainably funded industry peak body, according to Grahame Turk, chair of Australia’s National Seafood Industry Alliance (NSIA).
“Government needs a representative seafood industry body because it just can’t consult with thousands of commercial fishers, seafood retailers and wholesalers,” he said.
"Despite the industry worth around $2.5 billion [€2.3 billion] annually, in 2015 we remain weakened by the lack of a well-funded and effective peak industry body."
Turk added while Australia's seafood industry is not large by global standards, it has developed world-class fisheries management expertise and we have premium quality products that are in high demand across the globe.
To capitalize the Australian industry's strengths effectively, they need to have "a strong, united voice," he said.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
Commercial opportunities in Vietnam
Vietnam has potential that remains untapped and that represents significant commercial opportunity to Australian business, according to David Langers, East Asian Growth Markets general manager at the Australian Trade Commission, said.
Landers told SD2015 delegates that Vietnam was a large producer and globally significant exporter of seafood. “At the same time, some of Vietnam's potential in fisheries and aquaculture remains either untapped or underdeveloped,” he said.
“Fishery by-products, fishmeal and fish oil processing are not currently highly developed in Vietnam and their fisheries are not able to fulfill the demand of the feed production industry,” Landers said.
His message to the conference was that Australian enterprises could profitably export their know-how and at the same time help Vietnam to improve the productivity, sustainability and manageability of its commercial fisheries.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
Consumers – like seafood – require a delicate touch
Overcoming consumer skepticism about the sustainability of commercial fisheries is one of the obstacles that challenges a successful seafood business.
But creative approaches to telling the seafood story, effective branding and marketing, collaboration with influential chefs and TV personalities and the use of ‘feel-good’ third-party eco-labels can help overcome this resistance and pave the way to success, according to Dylan Skinns from Austral Fisheries.
“Branding and telling your product story is key to success in today's crowded market place,” Skinns said.
“Unfortunately the general public does not believe commercial fishers operate sustainably – even though the facts show that in Australia we have very sustainable fisheries.
“This consumer skepticism extends to the government, fishery scientists and managers. But the seafood-loving public is willing to follow the lead of influential chefs, TV personalities.
“They also pay attention to feel good, third-party party eco-labels and non-government organizations. So this is where Austral focused its efforts with our Glacier 51 toothfish product,” he said.
Strategies as the Austral Fisheries' collaboration with NGO Sea Shepherd to stop illegal poaching of toothfish stocks have helped Austral achieve a revenue jump of 85 percent, to AUD 120 million (€77.5 million/$85.8 million) in the past four years, Skinns said.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
'How to mix oil and water'
Bertie Armstrong, chief executive officer at the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), showed examples of where the interface between the energy and fishing industries worked and where it did not.
Lessons learned could be applied to Australia and Western Australia.
Beginning with a short comparison of the two industries, Armstrong stressed the rights of both sectors to access the shared marine environment and to pursue their respective goals and objectives.
Scotland's commercial fishing fleet has shared the same marine space as the northern European offshore oil and gas industry for almost 50 years.
"The journey from the first drilling in 1967 to today has had its share of both conflict and benefit," he said, "but we have managed to mis oil and water effectively."
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
Collaboration is key to sharing the marine environment
Australia’s peak bodies representing the multi-billion dollar offshore oil and gas industry and the nation's professional fishing sector have collaborated to minimize their impacts on each other in the shared marine environment, said Damien Hills, associate director of environment and safety of APPEA, at the SD2015 in a joint presentation with Renee Vajtauer, executive officer at Commonwealth Fisheries Association.
Hills said Australia's marine environment is a significant source of both food and energy to Australia and the world.
"Despite many long standing relationships between individual oil and gas operators and fishing operators, there was never a formal relationship between the industry bodies that represent these two critical industries until recently," he said.
Vajtauer said after years investigating options for a more formal dialog, the Commonwealth Fisheries Association, the WA Fishing Industry Council, the Northern Teriitory Seafood Council, Seafood Industry Victoria, and the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association reached an agreement for a three tiered structure.
"A memorandum of understanding between the groups outlining general principles of engagement was signed in November 2014, and APPEA and the five peak fishing bodies have been working since to improve dialog between these two iconic Australian industries," she said.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
‘Think smart to flourish’
Janet Howieson, senior research fellow at the Curtin University’s Centre of Excellence for Science Seafood and Health (CESSH), investigates changing paradigms to encourage market success.
Howieson said smaller volume commercial fisheries in Australia and globally, face multiple pressures.
While Western Australia's bigger and more economically robust fisheries, such as rock lobster and pearling, had some resources to fall back on, smaller fisheries had to challenge their traditional methods of operating and work smarter and more effectively to survive.
“Market development and value-adding to products could have many benefits for minor fisheries in terms of increasing their profitability and long-term sustainability,” Howieson said.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
The need for 'sound science'
The importance of sound science in the effective management of commercial fisheries was highlighted by Tom Pickerell, technical director at Seafish UK, at the SD2015.
Pickerell was a key player in 'Project Inshore' a collaborative venture between Seafish and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) designed "to map all English inshore fisheries and to develop tailored strategies for their sustainable management to help secure seafood supplies from these generally data-deficient fisheries."
The exercise, first of its kind, covered three stages, Pickerell said:
- Stage 1 mapped more than 450 different fisheries within the English inshore sector(extending 6 nautical miles offshore).
- Stage 2 assessed all of the fisheries within each Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCA) district using the MSC standardas a tool to score fishery performance.
- Stage 3 produced roadmaps for sustainable management for each IFCA.
“We believe this model has potential for other bodies and countries to adopt as a blueprint for their own data-deficient fisheries management,” he said, adding the project had some similarities to the Western Australian government's AUD 14.5 million (€9.4 million/$10.3 million) initiative.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
Innovative approach to community support for seafood
Joshua Stoll, co-funder of the Walking Fish fishermen's cooperative in the southeast United States, believes that generating local community support is a key driver in maintaining small, viable fisheries.
"Community Supported Fisheries (CSFs) are based on the community supported agriculture (CS) model in which community members pre-pay for shares of fresh local harvested seafood," he said.
"Just as CSAs can encourage sustainable and profitable farming practices, CSFs have the potential to do the same for fishing," he said.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
Lessons to be learned on conservation
Craig Copeland, fisheries manager of aquatic rehabilitation at the NSW Department of Primary Industries, told delegates Hunter River in Australia was a good example of habitat rehabilitation that could be used to underpin a national approach to habitat by the seafood industry.
"Habitat protection and rehabilitation are fishery-independent mechanisms that can realistically increase the abundance and resilience of key target species," he said.
Copeland said key fish habitat research and management outcomes in the Hunter River are an example of what can be achieved at a national level.
--IntraFish Media
--------------------------------
