Social and Economic Evaluation of NSW Coastal Aquaculture.

Project Member(s): Barclay, K.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation RDC (Fisheries Research and Development Corporation - Annual Open Call Funding Round RDC)

Start year: 2015

Summary: The EOI is being prepared at the request of the NSW aquaculture industry and DPI the government agency supporting/regulating industry. The request was made on the basis of the funded FRDC project due to start July 2014 which focusses on wild catch fisheries. Essentially, aquaculture want the same thing. OUTPUTS The output of the project is a report of no more than 50 pages in length that integrates the social and economic evaluations of the contributions of aquaculture to regional communities. This will identify the role of aquaculture in the communities of each of the regions in coastal NSW, presenting the results of economic surveys and modeling and the results of social qualitative and quantitative research. The report will include a succinct summary of the evaluation for NSW as a whole, as well as a `one-pager¿ overview for each of the regions covered in the project, communicating key findings for policy decision-making purposes. The report will utilize graphic representations as well as text, such as `traffic light¿ tables. OUTCOMES The main outcome of the report will be to improve the position of the aquaculture industry in negotiations over access to coastal areas. The information generated by the project will enable more informed policy making about the zoning of coastal areas, with improved understanding of the social and economic impacts that will arise if zoning reduces the viability of aquaculture industries. The main end user/beneficiary of the project is the NSW coastal aquaculture industry. Representatives of aquaculture industries putting their case to decision-makers at all levels of government need evidence about why it is important to consider their interests. The project will reduce the risk of reduced unintended negative social and economic impacts arising from resource management decisions. These decisions are currently made with an inadequate evidence base about economic or social aspects of aquaculture industries.

Publications:

Barclay, KM, McIlgorm, A, Mazur, N, Voyer, M, Schnierer, S & Payne, A Fisheries Research and Development Corporation 2016, Social and Economic Evaluation of NSW Coastal Aquaculture, no. 2015/302, pp. 1-212, Canberra.

Barclay, KM, Voyer, M, McIlgorm, A & Mazur, N FRDC 2016, Social and Economic Evaluation of NSW Coastal Professional Wild-Catch Fisheries, no. 2014/301, pp. 01-208, Canberra.

FOR Codes: Fisheries Management, Fisheries - Aquaculture not elsewhere classified, Coastal and Marine Management Policy, Environmental Sociology, Aquaculture, Assessment and management of coastal and estuarine ecosystems

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.