Hooked On Fish - Part 3

Joining the Dots - or Towards The End of Dotocracy. 

     Australian Aquaculture can best be described as an exciting industry, with a great deal of effort being applied to a wide variety of enterprises and potential enterprises, but without a central strategy to guide its development.  It is like a child's dot drawing - a large number of dots, perhaps a vague impression of what it might look like, but no real effort to join the dots.  Perhaps, because of the large involvement of state and commonwealth governments preparing their own concepts and "protect-our-patch" strategies, it might be called a "Dotocracy".       

     Let's look at just some of the dots forming our Dotocracy:

• the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF) has developed their "Best practice framework of regulatory arrangements for aquaculture in Australia". The introduction to this "framework" commences with the following statement "The Aquaculture Industry Action Agenda (AIAA) is a strategic framework between industry and the Australian Government to assist the Australian aquaculture industry achieve its vision of $2.5 billion in sales by 2010. The AIAA contains a set of ten strategic initiatives to work towards this goal. Strategic Initiative 2 is the promotion of a regulatory and business environment that supports aquaculture. This is supported by a National Aquaculture Policy Statement which was developed and agreed to by all States, Territories and the Commonwealth Government in 2003.  Around the same time that implementation of the AIAA commenced, the Productivity Commission initiated a research paper titled 'Assessing Environmental Regulatory Arrangements for Aquaculture'. The purpose of the Commission Research Paper was to assess the planning and environmental regulatory arrangements covering marine and land-based aquaculture production in Australia.".......and so on.  You, perhaps, start to get the idea (wonder how the $2.5 billion/2010 thing is going).  But wait, there's more!

• the NSW Government has their "Strategy to guide the land based aquaculture industry in NSW", together with their strategy of "Developing Commercial Inland Saline Aquaculture in Australia: Part 1 & 2", although you might have to dig for that as the internet link seems to be broken.

• The South Australian Government has their "Landbased aquaculture development guidelines" and their policy for Yellowtail Kingfish production.

• the West Australian Government will present you with their "Site Assessment for Land-based,Temperate Marine Aquaculture, from Shark Bay to South Australian Border, Western Australia".

• the NSW Aquaculture Association Inc have their website and a load of useful information.

• the Australian Aquaculture Portal has their website,

• and, of course, don't forget the National Aquaculture Council and its Strategy, mentioned in Part 1.

     So, there we have it, folks.  The above is just a small sample of what is out there in aquaculture land.  Over the last decade, or so, there has been a large amount of work done, lots of fine words and good intentions, some progress, but not nearly enough!  Most of that progress has been the result of the hard work and risk taken by private entrepreneurs, notwithstanding the growing Dotocracy surrounding them.  Companies large and small, such as Cell Aquaculture, Clean Seas Tuna, Huon Aquaculture and Taylor Made Fish Farms, (whom I must thank for the photographs) to name just a few, have carried the torch.  

     Why is all this important?  Feeding ourselves and others, reducing imports and protecting marine natural resources are just part of it.  There is much more!  But none of it will happen if we don't first join the dots.

                                  

Next.......Part 4.....and finis..

                

Hooked On Fish - Part 2

We Can Do This!  

     In Hooked On Fish - Part 1, attention was drawn to the decline of the Australian total fishery and the failure to replace production from a stabilising marine fishery with production from an aggressive aquaculture fishery.  Part of the reason for that situation is most likely due to a combination of heavy population pressure on Australia's east coast and the creation of marine parks or reserves over many parts of the coastline.  These factors have, perhaps paradoxically, limited the available space for marine aquaculture enterprises.

     This is not to say, however, that marine aquaculture is a dead duck.  Not at all.  There is a significant amount of work being done in most state jurisdictions to both maintain and develop tthe marine aquaculture fishery.  This is particularly evident in Tasmania and South Australia.  Notwithstanding this important work, let's take a look at the prospects for land based aquaculture.


     Many of you may be aware of the plight of rural communities around Australia (of course, this is not a uniquely Australian problem).  You will also be aware of the growing plight of less well off countries where food resources are scarce and feeding the population challenging.  There are many similarities between such countries and our own rural communities in that they suffer from shortages of water, difficulties with communications, challenges to accessing markets, extremes of weather and struggling traditional rural enterprises.  So, in this Part 2, let's explore some of the possibilities.  Sit back and watch.......

Set you thinking?  We can do this!

Next - Part 3 - Joining the Dots - or Towards The End of Dotocracy.