Two-year Aboriginal Fishing Business Development program open

In a statement, the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), said the Aboriginal Fishing Business Development program will help address some of the issues that have been raised relating to access and opportunity for Aboriginal fisheries businesses in NSW.

Many of those issues were recently raised during a parliamentary inquiry into why legislation passed by the NSW government 13 years ago to exempt Aboriginal cultural fishing from the catch limits that apply to recreational and commercial fishermen has yet to commence.

First Nations people along the South Coast have been urging the government to enact the amendment for years.

"The Aboriginal Fisheries Business Development program is one of many initiatives to support Aboriginal cultural fishing and economic development opportunities across NSW," the DPI statement said.

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Sean Sloan, deputy director general at the DPI, said applicants for the program must be an Aboriginal community-owned entity or business and must explain how their participation will benefit their community socially and economically.

Eligible businesses include everything from aquaculture operations, commercial fishing, charter fishing, post-harvest processing and shark mitigation through to aquatic-related tourism and hatcheries for freshwater fisheries. Both coastal and inland areas are eligible.

The two-year Aboriginal Fisheries Business Development Program is part of the NSW government's response to the Closing the Gap national targets, aiming to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strat Islander people's legal rights or interests in the seas.

The DPI Fisheries staff and project partners will work with the successful applicants to prepare feasibility studies and business cases for their chosen business, before helping them explore funding and investment options.

The work during the two-year trial will give NSW DPI time to evaluate all outcomes and inform the next steps of the program's future.

"This collaborative program will also be used to develop business models that could easily be replicated across the State and help businesses in other areas to be more successful," Mr Sloan said.

The Aboriginal Fisheries Business Development Program is a joint initiative between the DPI Fisheries, the Department of Regional NSW (Office of Regional Development), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, the NSW Aboriginal Fishing Advisory Council, the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation.

Expressions of interest close at 5pm on Friday, November 25, 2022.

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