The Tasmanian Government is seeking to strengthen relationships and consultation with Aboriginal communities on marine resource management practices related to wild fisheries, aquaculture, recreation and cultural fishing activities.
As part of the Government’s Building our Fisheries election commitment, the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) is recruiting an Aboriginal Fisheries Officer to join the Marine Resources team and assist with designing a range of marine resources management strategies and to help engage Aboriginal fishers in those processes.
DPIPWE has also written to communities this week to initiate discussions on cultural fisheries development as a key step outlined in the Government’s First 100 -Day Plan.
For thousands of years, fisheries have provided Aboriginal Tasmanian communities with food security and economic opportunities and shaped and sustained diverse cultural practices.
The Tasmanian Government recognises the Tasmanian Aboriginal people’s deep and continuous historical connection to the land and sea of Tasmania and that the cultural harvesting of natural products is essential to maintaining and reviving cultural practices.
Through the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 (LMRMA), the Tasmanian Government works with Tasmanian Aboriginal people to provide access to marine resources.
This new position will support consultation with Tasmanian Aboriginal communities, as well as commercial and recreational fishers, to identify options for further cultural fisheries development in Tasmania.
This position will also engage with work underway with the Fisheries, Research and Development Corporation (FRDC), the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, CSIRO, the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) and the Blue Economy CRC to assess options for cultural fisheries development.
DPIPWE is responsible for the sustainable management and protection of Tasmania’s natural and cultural assets for the benefit of Tasmanian communities and the economy.
The Aboriginal Fisheries Officer position is advertised on the Tasmanian Government jobs website https://www.jobs.tas.gov.au/ and in newspapers today and applications close on Monday 9 August 2021.
More Media Releases from Guy Barnett
More Media Releases from the Minister for Primary Industries and Water