On 17 September 2015 Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Senator Richard Colbeck, launched the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation's (FRDC) five-year Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) plan for Australia's fishing and aquaculture industries.
Improving the confidence of consumers in the products of Australian fishing and aquaculture is one priority area outlined in the plan. The RD&E plan also includes improved opportunities for recreational fishers and Indigenous people to benefit from fish and aquaculture. Under the plan both will be able to play a greater role in the stewardship of natural resources.
According to Senator Colbeck, the RD&E plan sets out solid targets including increasing the sector’s value from $2.4 billion to $3.2 billion by 2020, while at the same time improving community satisfaction with the industry.
The FRDC will use three investment approaches to implement the direction of this RD&E Plan - lead, collaborate and partner.
Lead: The FRDC will allocate a significant portion of the Australian Government's public-good funding and take the lead in priority setting for RD&E with a national focus.
Collaborate: Mechanisms and incentives for those sectors or jurisdictions under partnership agreements will be provided to leverage funding where there is alignment with priorities at the national level.
Partner: Greater responsibility will be given to the end users of RD&E to set priorities under partnership agreements.
To read more about the plan visit the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation’s website by clicking here.
