Welcome to Pro-vision Reef Inc., the voice of the marine aquarium industry on the Great Barrier Reef. This website is designed to showcase Stewardship Action Plan 2013: Mitigating Ecological Risk in a Changing Climate and the custodian businesses that established the initiative in collaboration with scientists and managers.
Our mission is to engender community and market confidence in our industry through our commitment to the highest standards of environmental performance in our fisheries.
The marine aquarium industry on the Great Barrier Reef supplies tropical reef fish, corals and invertebrates to the Australian and international aquarium display markets. Those markets are also supplied from fisheries in other parts of the tropical world that do not operate within the type of regulatory and compliance frameworks that exist in Australia.
Australia’s high standards of natural resource management, maritime safety and industrial relations are reflected in the quality of the fisheries and the opportunities that exist for willing practitioners. But achieving and maintaining these standards is equally reflected in the cost of doing business. The disparity of standards and costs between Australia and international competitors means that Australian businesses cannot compete on price and must differentiate themselves within the market.
Pro-vision Reef Inc. member businesses chose to differentiate on the basis of stewardship of the marine environment and to occupy a low volume, high-end market position. In order to claim a valid high-end market position, however, the story that is told to the market must be a true story.
Stewardship Action Plan 2013: Mitigating Ecological Risk in a Changing Climate tells that story. The initiative is designed to add value at the individual operator level to the existing continuous improvement model that applies to management of the fisheries. It does this through industry collaboration with fishery managers and scientists early in the cycle of assessment, management and monitoring of the fisheries.
In a changing climate, it is critical that the management of fisheries minimizes risk to the environment such that its capacity to recover after disturbance is maximized. Stewardship Action Plan 2013: Mitigating Ecological Risk in a Changing Climate enables industry to contribute to that goal in a practical way.
The initiative is a project funded by the Australian Government’s Caring For Our Country program and is undertaken by Pro-vision Reef Inc. in conjunction with project partners from Fisheries Queensland, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. The project is proudly supported by WWF Australia.
