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Industry Strategy The Further Development of the Aquaculture Industry in Queensland Why a Strategy? With a growing population, changing eating habits, and severe limits on global wild caught fish stocks, aquaculture is a rapidly developing industry both globally and in Australia. In Queensland, there has been significant investment in land based aquaculture operations. The Queensland Government has given a significant commitment to the development of the industry. The industry is growing. But, the rate of expansion is much slower than experienced in some other states. There are reasons for this slow rate of growth, and the QAIF Industry Development Strategy seeks to address those problems. The Strategy sets out eight key areas for action and calls for a commitment to a Queensland Aquaculture Development Agenda that will enable Queensland to be a leader in the development of this new industry. It may well be an industry much different from other States, with a different mix of species, different technology, and much of it land based. But, it should be an industry that forms a major part of the total Australian aquaculture industry. Industry is looking for all areas of government with an interest in the regulation and development of aquaculture to play a role in the implementation of a development strategy. 1. Policy and Regulation Despite recent efforts to streamline the approval process, industry still finds the regulatory requirements to be “changeable and difficult”. Regulation is seen to be administered by bureaucrats with personal agendas without sufficient basis in scientific analysis or independent review. Principal amongst the tangle of regulations facing the industry is the environmental management requirements. The Draft Productivity Commission Research Paper: Assessing environmental regulatory arrangements for aquaculture also confirmed the extremely high and complex regulatory arrangements impacting on aquaculture. A consequence of the intense and uncertain regulation is the general perception that aquaculture is too risky for the return to be expected. Site identification for new projects both land based and marine based is major problem. This is having a serious impact on investment confidence and the growth of the industry. The problem remains both a Federal one (GBRMPA and EA) and a Queensland one (DPI, EPA). The problems need to be negotiated and solved between the State, the Commonwealth and the industry. Resolution of these problems would be helped by the right policy framework is developed. Industry needs from Government an “enabling” approach to regulation, not just the current restrictive approach.
Industry is looking for government, in setting the regulations and restrictions, also to work with industry in finding how industry can best develop within this framework. At a State level, the Department of Primary Industries made commitments to amend the Fisheries Act to cover aquaculture activities and also to develop a Marine Aquaculture Plan. This was intended to provide a stronger statutory basis for the industry, to address some of the conflicting standards and requirements and to provide policies that identify an acceptable level of aquaculture activity in a specific area. Achievement of this approach would give a strong indication of support for industry development. Unfortunately, the legislative program has not progressed. It remains a priority.
2. Research In 2000/2001 the Government announced a three-year, $6 million funding under the Aquaculture Industry Development Initiative (AIDI) for research and development to assist the development of the aquaculture industry in Queensland. The $3 million of new government funds provided to the Agency of Food and Fibre Sciences (AFFS) Aquaculture Program to carry out this initiative was matched 1:1 from the recurrent expenditure on AFFS aquaculture research personnel and facilities. AIDI funding has substantially increased the research and development capability for aquaculture in Queensland.This initiative must continue!However, industry is strongly of the view that the majority of the funds need to be directed at species and projects already demonstrating a track record of commercialisation and industry growth. At this stage, “blue sky” initiatives should be less of a priority. Key priorities for the Queensland industry that are within the research capability of the scientific community and that are unlikely to be resolved overseas in the absence of a local R&D effort are:
Industry would like input into AFFS programs such as the ongoing Walkerman Redclaw project. To assist in this focussing of the R&D investment, the R&D present consultative group from industry and government should be formally re-established, providedwith a fresh mandate and activly used to provide advice on research needs and priorities.
3. Site and Access Issues Opportunities for inland fresh water aquaculture in Queensland are abundant. However, there remains great difficulty with the policies that provide sites for the coastal and marine sectors. There are reasons for this difficulty including:
The Queensland Department of State Development has been particularly useful in assisting new entrants to the industry locate sites and work through the approval processes. But, even with this assistance, the process has been slow and a deterrent to investment. Industry is seeking the commitment of specialist resources in the Department of State Development to help with site identification and to facilitate the development application process. The Marine Aquaculture planning process that was being undertaken by DPI needs to be resurrected as this was designed to help facilitate the site selection and approval process for marine sites.
4. Funding for industry development activities: Industry associations are playing a vital role in the task of industry development. They provide the best means of harnessing existing expertise; they provide an important focus for new entrants. Importantly, they have been able to provide the practical response to legislative and environmental issues. They also need to take on the important role of informing local authorities about aquaculture so that planning schemes are appropriate. Mature industries have associations with the resources and mandates to address these kinds of issues. Aquaculture, as a new industry does not have the same resources. Moreover, the development agenda is not always a priority for existing businesses. The development agenda often assists new entrants rather than existing industry participants. The National Aquaculture Strategy has provided significant funding for the establishment of the National Aquaculture Council (NAC) to help address these issues. Similarly, DPI has assisted with the funding to establish the Queensland Aquaculture Council and then the Queensland Aquaculture Industries Federation (Inc). At this stage of development and given the intense and unusual level of regulation, there will need to be close relationships between the regulators, government development agencies and industry for a number of years to come if the development potential is going to be realized. Currently the industry is unable to generate the resources needed for this task. It is likely that government itself does not have all the skills and finances in place for the job. Industry is seeking an ongoing and longer term commitment as part of the development strategy.
- Consultation - Policy development - Industry development - Industry and product promotion and development - Engagement in the national aquaculture strategy.
5. Extension and Communication A number of industry sectors are very small compared with the main national aquaculture industries. However, they are growing and have potential to be important especially at the regional level as fresh water and inland species. These include eels, Red Claw, silver perch and jade perch. It is important for more farms to achieve consistent and predictable production: the current “best practice” as developed by the DPI needs to adapted to commercial operation and adopted. A strongly focussed extension service is vital to transfer of research knowledge to industry and assist more rapid introduction of technology. QAIF recognises, however, that extension services will be an increasingly scarce resource that needs to be allocated to high priority tasks. To that end, the recommended research and development advisory committee should have a role in advising which projects are to be the focus for extension service resources and to evaluate outcomes, achievements and renewed funding for specific projects. Moreover, with a rapidly changing regulatory approach, government needs to ensure focused and effective communication with industry explaining what is required. Good communications and consultation is essential to good development.
6. Product Awareness The Queensland and Australian industries meet stringent environmental and quality assurance standards. Yet cheap imports not meeting the same standards are always on the horizon and exchange rates can make export development difficult to achieve. Business development, product differentiation, branding and market development is a major but necessary challenge for the industry to remain competitive in its principle market – Australia. Industry and government need to work together to develop programs to help promote product and the Queensland industry.
7. Human Resource Issues Attracting good staff to the industry in relatively isolated areas is not always easy. There is a need to ensure training programs are capable of providing adequate numbers of skilled staff. At a wider level, rural and regional communities need to provide the lifestyle to ensure that skilled staff remain in the regions. This is beyond the scope of a development strategy, but is an issue for all development in more remote areas. The development agenda for industry is placing a significant workload on industry business leaders. An industry development strategy should include a human resources development including especially, access to training and development programs for industry leadership.
8. Indigenous Aquaculture Large areas of Queensland are under Native Title or subject to native title claim. Aquaculture provides an economically and ecologically sustainable use of resources that may be of benefit to indigenous communities. This is recognised in the National Aquaculture strategy. Queensland Aquaculture Industries Federation supports the inclusion of an indigenous aquaculture program as part of a State development strategy. QAIF member organisations are prepared to work in conjunction with the Queensland government to develop a Queensland indigenous aquaculture strategy. We believe there are significant opportunities for a partnership with indigenous people in developing resources for aquaculture.
Implementing the Strategy The commitment to the industry provided by the Queensland Government over the last five years has been immensely important. The momentum must not be lost as there are still significant problems to be solved. The means to keep the momentum going has been set out in this paper. However, to implement the Queensland Aquaculture Development Agenda we need the following:
The National aquaculture development agenda is a good model. A Queensland strategy should work hand in hand with the national approach.
The Aquaculture Advisory Committee was a reasonable model for this approach.
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