Kangaroo Island crayfisherman Ben Tyley has been awarded a scholarship in Australia’s leading research program for primary producers, the Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarship Program.
Mr Tyley is one of only 18 Australians to receive a 2010 Nuffield Scholarship. He was presented with his scholarship on Friday at the Innovation in Australian Farming Awards dinner at the Hawkesbury Race Club.
The prestigious Nuffield Farming Scholarships, each worth $27,000, give young Australian primary producers the opportunity to travel internationally and explore agricultural issues and opportunities in a global context. There are about 1400 Nuffield scholars worldwide.
Mr Tyley will use his scholarship, supported by the Lady Southey Scholarship Program for natural resource management through the Sidney Myer Fund, to investigate fisheries management and how other fishing industries are managing pollution and carbon emission issues.
Mr Tyley is only the second Kangaroo Island primary industry operator to win a Nuffield Scholarship.
The first was Andrew Heinrich, of Cygnet River, who used his scholarship to focus on lamb breeding issues.
Mr Tyley operates his family’s commercial fishing business in Kingscote. He targets crayfish, king crabs, school and gummy sharks and some scale fish in the waters around Kangaroo Island.
He plans to visit operators in the crab industry in Alaska and lobster industry in Maine in the US, as well as the rock lobster industry in South America, to research the costs and benefits of marine parks and reserves and other strategies, such as quota management, in rebuilding lobster fisheries.
“The lobster industry in the northern zone of South Australia is facing some major challenges including catch rates declining to all-time lows,” Mr Tyley says.
“Management strategies based on controlling outputs were introduced six years ago to combat this, but have not been successful in rebuilding the fishery. I would like to see how other fisheries have managed to re-build stock levels.”
“The fishing industry also faces challenges related to carbon trading, emission controls and fishing-based pollution. Learning how other countries are dealing with these challenges will help our industry create some proactive guidelines to address these issues before they become problems,.” Mr Tyley said.
Nuffield Australia CEO Mr Jim Geltch said many Nuffield Scholars went on to become active leaders in agriculture and the community, and sharing their research findings was an important part of the scholarship program. “For many, the scholarship experience changes their lives by opening their eyes to the wider world and giving them the confidence to pursue their goals,” he said.
The 2010 Australian Nuffield Scholars will leave Australia in February, June or September 2010 for a compulsory Global Focus Program. This will involve travel to China, North America, South America, Middle East, India and Europe investigating agricultural marketing and trade issues, environmental issues and experiencing the different social and cultural aspects of each region.
Following the initial six-week program, the scholars will go their individual ways to pursue specific study programs in the country or countries of their choice. Mr Tyley plans to visit the US, Ireland, Norway and South America on his individual study tour.
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