Seafood Sector Adaptation Implementation Update: May 2023
Our 2023 workplan has been finalised and is now in full swing.
The workplan has three primary goals:
Use case studies to create an adaptation pathways framework for the seafood sector.
Build tools and resources to support the use of the framework for other species, regions and/or business operations across fishing and aquaculture.
Identify and report on cross-cutting priorities, opportunities for ongoing cooperation and, potentially, transformational strategies to support sector adaptation.
The workplan is being delivered through five phases:
Phase 1. Input data and gap analysis: This phase prepares the climate projection, environmental and ecological data for each case study, and identifies the risks and hazards to the species concerned. What we know about thresholds and tipping points, as well as data/knowledge gaps, are all brought to the table.
Phase 2. Workshop prep: This phase brings together the Phase 1 research with other insights to prep materials and presentations for the workshops.
Phase 3. Adaptation pathways workshops: The aim of the workshops is to bring together industry experts (and supported by management, policy and scientific experts) to build a portfolio of adaptation strategies, identify key decision-points when pathways will switch, and draw pathways maps to capture this information.
These Adaptation Pathways Maps show how a plan for action can be made. They specify the actions to be taken immediately, the developments to monitor, and conditions under which contingency actions should be taken.
The workshops, their outputs and the resulting framework deliver across a suite of SAS Wave 1 and Wave 2 commitments.
The snapper workshop is being held on the 9th and 10th of May 2023 in Auckland; the hoki workshop is being held on the 17th and 18th of May in Auckland; and the salmon workshop will be held on the 24th and 25th of May in Christchurch.
Phase 4. Synthesis and drafting outputs: This phase collates the findings from each workshop into a report, follow-ups with any necessary gap-filling, and drafts outputs to be disseminated to participants for each workshop. This includes key cross-cutting issues to be addressed by the SAS Implementation Group (IG).
Phase 5. Outreach and uptake: The case studies and wider learnings are collated into a repeatable and scalable framework for uptake by others across the seafood sector. This includes guidelines and a ‘how to’ tutorial aids scaling-out.
Workshop Outcomes:
The workshop outcomes (e.g. map and guidance for hoki, snapper and salmon) can then be used by businesses to help inform their operational, strategic and investment priorities. Businesses can tailor the workshop outputs based on their own risk appetite, vulnerability profile and access to resources. We feel it is extremely important that adaptation planning is integrated into the business, rather than be a side exercise.
Adaptation Pathways Framework:
Following the workshops, the IG will be holding another internal 2-day session to compile findings, confirm the framework and identify opportunities for ongoing collaboration (such as ongoing data collection, monitoring requirements or addressing regulatory priorities). This work will also help inform the scope, scale and priorities for remaining Wave 1 and Wave 2 Commitments.
Our intention in designing the framework is to increase understanding and accessibility to repeat the process above for other fisheries and aquaculture operations. The uniqueness of individual fisheries/farming operations and businesses need to be empowered. Our goal is therefore to increase confidence in understanding cost, time, inputs, outputs, and value so the adaptation pathways approach is adopted by others, thereby enabling tailored adaptation options to be developed across the sector.
We are also hopeful the process will advance cooperative discussions to support ongoing research requirements, commercial opportunities and a more open (and less reactionary) dialogue on resource management priorities.
The framework and workshop outputs are due to be released in October 2023.