| Summary | Commercial fishing sectors. Primarily considering trawl, line and net fishing sectors. |
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| Project | SESMAD |
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| Subtype | Local Resource User Group |
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| Sector | Marine protected areas |
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| Interest Heterogeneity | Low (1) |
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| Explanation | In general, their interests in promoting economically viable fisheries would be homogenous. On occasion they are faced with different threats to their sectors but overall their interests would be similar. |
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| Costs Of Exit | Yes |
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| Explanation | Exiting the fishery can be expensive due to the level of infrastructural investment involved. Boats, licenses etc., can be sold but this is sometimes difficult to do. |
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| Proportionality (Of Costs And Benefits) | No |
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| Explanation | Commercial fisheries feel highly regulated and invest a lot in monitoring. They feel that the governance system does not value the fishing industry as much as it does other industries like tourism. Therefore, commercial fishing is managed more closely than other sectors. Fish catches overall have declined since establishment of the GBRMP. |
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| Actor Group Coordination | Both formal and informal |
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| Explanation | Formal co-ordination through workshops organised by their member organisation (QSIA) and government. Informal co-ordination at landing sites and markets. |
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| Leadership | Informal leader |
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| Explanation | Some members join the QSIA which has a few formal representatives promoting fisher interests. However, not all commercial fishing sectors join this group. There isn't a formal leader of the sector as a whole. |
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| Leadership Accountability | Medium (2) |
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| Explanation | The staff of the QSIA are somewhat accountable to the commercial fishing sectors, although they cannot be formally voted in or out by the sector. And only some fishers are members of the association. |
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| Leadership Authority | Medium (2) |
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| Explanation | The QSIA is formally recognised by government as the industry peak body and is included in policy consultations, thereby participating in arenas of decision-making. However no formal co-management arrangement between state and industry exists thereby limits fishers' leadership authority. |
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| Actor Group Trust | High (3) |
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| Explanation | Commercial fishing sectors do not generally compete with each other. Their interests vis-a-vis regulation, conservation, market changes tend to be similar. Therefore trust is assumed to be high. There are no research studies we are aware of that specifically investigate trust. |
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| Past Collaboration | Medium (2) |
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| Explanation | Collaboration within specific sectors, such as operators within the trawl fishery, may be high at particular times (e.g., when management changes are happening). However, collaboration across sectors (trawl and net, for example) are only really evident through membership of the Queensland Seafood Industry Association (QSIA) and various workshops, which are moderate / medium. |
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| Personal Communication | More than once a year (5) |
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| Explanation | In meetings and workshops organised by the QSIA or government. And at landing sites and markets. |
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| Remote Communication | More than once a year (5) |
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| Explanation | |
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