Queensland Fishing Industry Research Advisory Committee

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What is QFIRAC's role?

QFIRAC (Queensland Fishing Industry Research Advisory Committee) is an advisory body on research and development. It has no research funds of its own to allocate to priority projects.

It is Queensland's peak advisory body on fisheries and aquaculture research and development to the FRDC and the Queensland Government.

The FRDC (Fisheries Research and Development Corporation) is the most important funding body for fisheries and aquaculture research and development in Australia.

QFIRAC, in its advisory capacity, is responsible to its stakeholders for:

1. establishing Queensland's fishing industry R & D priorities
   
2. advising the FRDC and  potential R&D providers of these priorities
   
3. influencing the R & D directions of the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries
   
4. encouraging and soliciting preliminary research applications
   
5. screening those applications for further consideration by the FRDC.

QFIRAC's relationship with FRDC

Fisheries Research Advisory Bodies (FRABs) in each State and the Commonwealth advise the FRDC on the appropriateness and priority of research and development project proposals. 

All FRABs receive funding support from FRDC, not only for their normal operations but also to assist in the development of their strategic plans.

QFIRAC's main role is to provide advice to FRDC on its assessment of:

• preliminary research proposals and draft FRDC applications submitted to it by researchers
  
• summaries of final FRDC applications that have been submitted to FRDC for funding

Refer to FRDC's website for more information on the role of FRABs in FRDC's funding process:  www.frdc.com.au

QFIRAC's relationship with its stakeholders

The stakeholders that QFIRAC works with include representatives of the main users of fisheries R & D :

• the Management Advisory Committees (MACs) of the major Queensland fisheries which report to DPI&F, Queensland.
  
  
• the peak industry bodies:
  • Queensland Seafood Industry Association (QSIA) - commercial fishing
  • Sunfish Queensland Inc.- recreational fishing sector
  • Queensland Seafood Marketers Association ( QSMA) - seafood marketing
  • Australian Prawn Farmers Association (APFA) - prawn farmers
  • Queensland Aquaculture Industries Federation Inc. (QAIF) - other aquaculture sectors

QFIRAC works with these and other stakeholders such as the conservation and indigenous sectors to identify their R&D needs.

QFIRAC's other key stakeholders are the R&D providers in agencies such as DPI&F, AIMS, CSIRO, the Reef CRC, the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility and researchers in Universities.  QFIRAC works with these stakeholders to help ensure that the key R&D needs of the fishing industry are met.

The R&D agencies mentioned above administer their own core R&D budgets, augmented by funding from FRDC and other external sources.  QFIRAC sees considerable benefit in liaison with these agencies to coordinate research priorities and maximise the benefits from all ongoing research.

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Last updated 09 January 2008