Tasmania's Indigenous-caught seafood should be labelled on tourists' tables: researcher
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A Tasmanian Aboriginal researcher is testing the waters to find out whether tourists have an appetite for Indigenous-caught seafood.
Emma Lee, whose research has focussed on the legislative barriers and opportunities for Indigenous engagement with fisheries, is on a quest to put cultural catch on tourism tables.
She wants to see dishes on restaurant menus that state Indigenous-caught in the future, and believes an Aboriginal fisheries industry would create employment and be a tourism boon.
"My vision for an Indigenous fisheries industry in Tasmania is to be able to introduce Indigenous wild catch, but also the cultural story behind that," Dr Lee said.
"So that when people are eating they are also having a connection to us as people and to sea country."
Under current legislation, Aboriginal people engaged in non-commercial fishing activities are exempt from requirements to hold a sea fishing licence but must comply with all other fisheries rules, including bag and possession limits, size restrictions and seasons.
Dr Lee said the legislation, which prohibits the on-sell of seafood caught through cultural activity permits, was problematic.
"The legislation is a bit fuzzy in the sense that we are able to on-sell shells for our necklaces, but we are not allowed to on-sell abalone," she said.
"The issue of Indigenous regional development has moved on and we need to be able to engage with economies and markets."
In a sidestep of the legislation, Dr Lee has hosted a series of ticketed events as part of Hobart winter festival Dark Mofo which are billed as cultural talks but also include a menu of Indigenous-caught shellfish.
"We don't want to put anyone at risk of intervention with justice over getting fined because we are not allowed to on-sell the cultural catch," she said.
"So we have had to dance around that by saying you can come in and have a cultural evening with our elders and we will give you the free feed."
Dr Lee said the events had been a success and feedback from attendees was positive, proving there was an appetite for Indigenous food experiences in Tasmania.
"Being able to meet the divers who have harvested the Indigenous wild-catch has been a delightful experience of linking food to ongoing cultural traditions," she said.
Call to give to Aboriginal Tasmanians quotas
Elder Rodney Dillon, who hosted one of the events, spoke about the cultural tradition of fishing and what it meant for Aboriginal people.
"This is an important part of who are are today and who we have always been," Mr Dillon said.
"Without your culture you are just an empty vessel."
He said in order to build an Indigenous fisheries industry and open up tourism and employment opportunities, the Aboriginal community needed increased access to resource.
He said the Tasmanian Government should hand over its share of the overall abalone quota, which goes out to public tender annually, to Aboriginal people.
"We have got to make sure we are within the sustainable catch for the country," he said.
"The way we can do that is by getting those licences. That can put us inside the total allowable catch.
"We need to get the State Government to hand back those 40 abalone units so that we can create our own tourism industry.
"I think that would be a great step for reconciliation and also a great step for the Aboriginal community to be able to run those licences."
In a statement, a spokeswoman said the Government would "continue working with the Aboriginal community on its aspirations for further access to marine resources".
Industry says opportunities exist
Tasmanian Abalone Council Chief Executive Dean Lisson said the legislation provided access for Aboriginal people to recreational catch for cultural use.
"[Aboriginal people] are able to access commercial abalone licences [quota, diving and processing licenses] in the same manner as all other non-aboriginal persons and/or entities," he said in a statement.
"Indeed, [Aboriginal people] have been active participants within the Tasmanian commercial abalone industry as divers and quota owners for many years.
"Employment opportunities for [Aboriginal or people of any nationality or race] have always existed at all levels within the commercial abalone industry.
"The Tasmanian abalone industry welcomes people with diverse backgrounds regardless of ethnicity, culture, religion or gender."
He said access to abalone products for tourism or any other commercial purposes was readily available.
"Indeed, there are more abalone processors per head of population in Tasmania than elsewhere in the world," he said.
Topics: aboriginal, food-and-beverage, tourism, hobart-7000, launceston-7250, tas
