DoctorKaren Alexander

Project Total: $59,000,000; The objective of the MB-CRC is to transform Australia's emerging marine bioproducts sector into a globally competitive industry. The focus will be on the industry and market-driven innovations to improve both the supply chain and value chain to deliver economies of scale and competitive capacity for Australia to access high value markets across the globe. Strategic alignment: From Tasmania and for Tasmania: A revolution in use of sustainable marine resources, the use of innovative bioprocessing technologies and the exploitation of local Tasmanian bioproducts with a global impact Human Health and nutrition: Marine derived products will improve human health and nutrition Economic performance: Create regional competitive advantage for the marine bioproducts sector and new businesses through the industry problems we solve. Lift the economic performance of the State on manufacturing and bioresources usage. Environmental sustainability: providing aquaculture and agriculture industries with different market options Educational attainment: Students will be strongly involved in the development of the projects, aligned with Tasmania as a STEM State to collaborate with industry, business and government to translate knowledge into practical and productive outcomes. Funded by: Department of Industry, Innovation and Science - CRC Programme; Marine Bioproducts CRC; University of Tasmania ($2,500,000).

Project Total: $1,012,000; This project aims to assess the global and local consequences of changing feeds in aquaculture by developing a new interdisciplinary sustainability assessment framework. The project expects to generate new methods to understand and predict local farm-to-ecosystem changes and global environmental footprints under contrasting feed and climate scenarios by integrating field data with novel experiments, modelling techniques and global mapping of terrestrial and marine feed raw materials and their impacts. Expected outcomes include new methods to assess ecological, social and economic trade-offs under different feeds to inform decision making in support of an ecosystem-based approach to aquaculture spanning global to local scales. Funded by: Australian Research Council - Grant-Linkage Projects Round 1 ($720,000); BioMar Ltd ($292,000); University of Tasmania ($98,322).

Project Total: $94,781; Marine spatial planning (MSP) has emerged in recent years as a tool for sea use management. However, MSP requires adequate and accurate information on the biophysical state and usage of the marine environment. Such data often exists, but generally not in a format which allows planning areas and priorities to be easily identified. This proposal was developed in response to a Request for Quote by the Centre for Marine Socioecology for the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Victorian Government, to undertake a Statewide Assessment as detailed in the title. Substantial consultation will be required with direct project stakeholders as the identification of available data, development of secondary data, the identification of planning areas, and the options for a decision-support tool will be a dynamic and co-created process. As such, the project methodology is participatory or co-production research in which the most directly affected stakeholders are involved directly in generating research objectives, guiding analysis and outputs. The project comprises 3 stages: Stage 1: Evaluation of provided spatial datasets and critical gap analysis; Stage 2: Identification of location, size, and boundaries of marine planning areas; Stage 3: Recommendation and implementation of a decision support tool. The work is proposed by a strong team. CI Alexander has substantial project management experience, as well as expertise in MSP and previous experience with the Victorian Marine Spatial Planning process (gave keynote address at initial MSP summit). She is also leading a similar (although more substantial) project being currently undertaken in Tasmania. Co-I's Lacherite and Adams have excellent skills in spatial data analysis which are key to undertaking the assessment. Co-I Fudge has extensive experience with stakeholder engagement, and with engagement with Original Custodians. Co-I Byers has recently been appointed as a Research Fellow in Marine Data Science and will offer research assistance to this project. Funded by: Dept of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (Vic) ($94,781); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $2,921,653; This project will develop a sustainable Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) model that supports commercial seaweed production. To do this, the research will i) define the seaweed culture proposition (identify species, growing techniques and products) and ii) develop a regionally relevant IMTA partnership model that brings together salmon, shellfish and seaweed producers to ensure economic, environmental and societal benefits. Funded by: Department of Industry, Innovation and Science - CRC-P; Tassal Ltd; Deakin University; Spring Bay Seafoods Pty Ltd; University of Tasmania ($467,416).

Project Total: $172,996; In order to secure the future of Australian aquaculture, it is increasingly clear that, alongside effective and responsible production, building and maintaining community support is vital. The Tasmanian salmon industry is acutely aware of the need to garner and maintain societal support. A number of factors contribute towards the achievement of community acceptability (or 'social license to operate'). These include: the perception that a company offers benefits; that it contributes to the well-being of the region, respects the local way of life and acts fairly; that it listens, responds and exhibits reciprocity; and that relations are based on an enduring regard for each other's interests. Many of these factors are based on understanding, and contributing towards the achievement of, that which is valued by local and regional communities. This project aims to understand the regional development and well-being futures envisaged by residents of NW Tasmania and how salmonid farming can contribute to meeting these shared values. Funded by: Fisheries Research & Development Corporation - Grant-Annual Open Call Round ($172,996); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $65,369; Sustainable growth in the Norwegian aquaculture industry presupposes stronger social anchoring both nationally and locally. Media analysis of the public debate on aquaculture in Norway shows that aquaculture activities are often criticized, and that disapproval is voiced from a mix of different interest groups. Improving social approval for aquaculture is a two-way process where society's knowledge about and understanding of the aquaculture industry need to be strengthened, while the industry must acknowledge its social responsibility and respond to signals from society. While we do know that the industry's social anchorage in Norway is surprisingly weak compared to other types of food production, we have less knowledge of how social approval and trust towards the industry is distributed in the public, how/whether this is linked to misconceptions, lack of knowledge, poor dialogue between the industry and the public, and/or different values. To understand the foundation for social license for aquaculture in Norway, we propose to investigate the characteristics of trust towards aquaculture activities and public regulation on a national (macro) level, distinguishing between society-industry-government, rural-urban, and centre-periphery dimensions. At the meso level, we will investigate mediatized environmental conflicts as these have been enacted in the Norwegian public arena in recent years. Finally, the investigation will include the micro level - focusing the analytical lens on specific coastal communities where aquaculture is minor or major part of the industrial structure, and where economic effects are particularly visible. SoLic will focus on the context of Norwegian aquaculture but will also include smaller comparative cases in Australia and Iceland. Social license for Tasmanian aquaculture has been an ongoing research focus over the last two years, through research funded by the Human Dimensions sub-program of the Fisheries Research Development Corporation, amongst others. There is a wealth of information available that is currently not directly or easily transferable. It requires collation and synthesis to identify the determinants of social license, as well as the mechanisms that strengthens/diminishes a social license, the consequences, and the possible strategies industry applies. This project will draw together knowledge from existing research projects, literature and documentation, and use key informant interviews to address gaps. A case study approach will be used to address the question: How does social license (or a lack of) play out in Tasmanian salmon aquaculture? A single-case study design will be used (to understand social license at the state level), but with multiple embedded units of analysis (i.e. cases at the local level). Two key analytical techniques will be used: explanation building and logic models. These will be validated by expert informants. Funded by: The Research Council of Norway - Grant; NTNU Samfunnsforskning AS; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $6,735; Questions of how to interact with marine predators in terms of food production have never been more pressing. Healthy top predator populations are essential for regulating the mechanisms that promote biodiversity, ecosystem function and resilience (Rooney, McCann et al. 2006, Estes, Terborgh et al. 2011, Ripple, Estes et al. 2014, Lynam, Llope et al. 2017). However, interactions between predators and human food producers present various challenges (Carter and Linnell 2016, Nyhus 2016). Effects on marine wildlife range from bycatch to resource competition, to direct persecution. Conversely, carnivores can prey directly on livestock or fish corralled by humans, compete for resources, damage gear and infrastructure, and pose risks to human safety. Given that global demand for seafood is projected to increase (Smith, Roheim et al. 2010), anthropogenic climate change will impact fisheries catches (Barange, Merino et al. 2014), and that many global fish stocks are already overfished (Pikitch 2012), these challenges are likely to intensify into the future. The convergence of these factors creates a brewing storm of human wildlife conflict. Developing methods of interacting with wildlife while producing food from the ocean, that promote sustainable coexistence, is paramount to their long-term conservation. Interactions between seals, wild fisheries and aquaculture are a longstanding issue in Tasmania. While social, economic, and political dimensions influence the way society approaches seal-fishery interactions, an understanding of the relevant ecological dynamics of the species in question should be equally influential in this regard. Yet we currently understand very little about the way the Australian fur seal, Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus, uses the Tasmanian marine environment. Developing an understanding of the foraging ecology of this species in the region represents an opportunity to inform evidence based, scientific fisheries management policies, as well as to enhance our understanding of the local marine environment. This socioecological project therefore seeks to fill key data gaps in our understanding to the ecology of the species in the region in terms of spatiotemporal habitat use and diet, explore how this information can inform more intelligent management practices, and ask what trade-offs can be agreed upon by multiple and diverse stakeholders to articulate broadly endorsed goals for coexistence. Funded by: Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment - Grant ($6,735); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $67,833; The fisheries and aquaculture industries are increasingly and acutely aware of the need to garner societal support, but unsure of how to address poor societal support at its root, who needs to be involved to address the problem, and effective pathways to improving societal support. However, there is a wealth of information available to address these gaps, including learnings from international fisheries and aquaculture, and the historical successes and failures within Australia. This project will draw together knowledge from existing literature and key informant interviews, and deliver the findings to industry in an appropriate, practical, and applicable format. The objectives of this research are to: 1. Define societal support; 2. Identify determining factors (internal and external) affecting societal support; Identify means by which to detect, assess and monitor societal support; and 4. Identify successful engagement behaviours and interventions. Funded by: Fisheries Research & Development Corporation - Grant ($67,833); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $234,581; This research project will investigate the risks, effectiveness, and natural context of the Tasmanian fur seal relocation program using biotelemetry to assess seal movement and foraging behaviour in SE Tasmania. Funded by: Tassal Ltd ($234,581); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $30,123; The focus of this project is the development of robust indicators for social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability in aquaculture. A vast number of standards and indicators have been developed worldwide, however little is known about the use of these indicators, nor what aspects are missing/contradictory/overlapping/ inadequate. It is these aspects that this project will address. Funded by: Scottish Association of Marine Science ($30,123); University of Tasmania.