Check out the Great Australian Seafood Fish Finder to find your nearest Southern rock lobster retailer.
Great Australian Seafood - Fish FinderCheck out the Great Australian Seafood Fish Finder to find your nearest Southern rock lobster retailers.
Great Australian Seafood - Fish Finder
My term as Chair of the SRL Board came to an end on 31 December 2021. This coincides with the renewal of SRL’s Industry Partnership Agreement with the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation (FRDC) and the signing of a new 3-year project to support the planning and management of Research Development and Extension (RD&E) across the three states. Looking back on my six years in the job I am filled with pride in the resilience of a sector that has been hit hard by both market disruptions in China and the global Covid pandemic. It’s fair to say that industry has never had it so tough, but right now we are seeing the opening up of new markets which hopefully will augur well for the future.
Its fair to say that in my time with SRL I have not met a majority of the fishers who make up the backbone of the industry. But behind the scenes I know that the Board and our Executive Officer work tirelessly to support Industry. In the latter it has been a privilege to work with the current EO, Tom Cosentino and his predecessors, Ross Hodge and Justin Phillips.
SRL, like all other sectors in Australia’s fishing industry will need to face the many other challenges coming our way: climate change, moving to a more circular economy, changing consumer attitudes relating to animal welfare, food miles and the need to reduce our carbon footprint, to name a few. This cannot be done without a strong RD&E base and for this I am particularly grateful for the support we continue to have from the FRDC and our many research partners including IMAS, SARDI and CSIRO.
I would like to thank all for your support and wish you well for the future.
IMAS surveys of invasive Long-spined Sea Urchins on reefs along Tasmania’s East Coast have measured the size of increases in the urchin population and the barren areas they create by overgrazing kelp beds.
Led by Principal Investigator Dr Scott Ling, researchers conducted SCUBA and towed-underwater-video surveys spanning 156 sites across 13 East Coast locations between Eddystone Point and Recherche Bay, repeating a baseline survey carried out in 2001/02.
A report on the latest survey released today found that since 1978, when a single Long spined Sea Urchin was found in St. Helens, the Tasmanian population has grown to an estimated 20 million.
For eastern Tasmania, over the last 15-years the urchin population has grown from an estimated 11 million to more than 18 million, with an average increase in urchins of 170 tonnes per annum.
Along the open coastline from Eddystone Point to Tasman Island, urchin barrens now cover an estimated 15 per cent of reefs at depths of 4-40 metres, up from 3 per cent in 2001/02.
Watch moreCommercial Southern Rock Lobster fisheries contribute around $250 million in landed seafood value to the Australian economy each year. Professional Rock Lobster Fishers across South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria operate licenses, vessels, pots and harvest infrastructure with an estimated capital value of $2.3 billion, landing over 3,000 tonnes of premium Southern Rock Lobster annually.
Learn MoreSRL's members are the South Australian Rock Lobster Advisory Council Inc (SARLAC), the Tasmanian Rock Lobster Fishermen's Association (TRLFA), the Victorian Rock Lobster Association (VRLA) and the Australian Southern Rock Lobster Exporters Association (ARLEA).
SRL’s primary function is to facilitate a process to guide expenditure of Research and Development (R&D) levy funds independently collected from industry by State Government agencies and leveraged via the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC). Accordingly, the FRDC is a key SRL partner with strategically aligned R&D priorities and objectives. Further information in relation to the FRDC can be found here with additional information regarding the Industry Partnership Agreement (IPA) in place between SRL and the FRDC available here.
SRL also works to attract and secure other R&D funding sources outside of the FRDC process.
The SRL Strategic Plan 2025 focuses on three pillars: More Lobsters, Lower Operating Costs and Better Prices.