Qantas Super, a $9 billion corporate super fund, and Australian asset manager Longreach Maris have collaborated to support First Nations mud crab fishers in North Queensland through the creation of Longreach Maris' First Nations Fishing Initiative.
Fishing for mud crab has been a way of life for many Indigenous people in Queensland, but barriers such as high up-front costs and accessing fishing quota has long kept them excluded from the commercial fishing industry. Qantas Super and Longreach Maris have invested in ITQs, facilitating partnerships with local First Nations mud crab fishers that are breaking down these barriers.
First Nations mud fisher Spencer Brown, who owns On-Country Seafood with members of the Giangurra Aboriginal Community, has been fishing all his life, but has only recently been able to get into the commercial mud crab industry, thanks in part to his partnership with Longreach Maris, which has helped him secure quota.
Qantas Super and Longreach Maris also supported an Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) grant funding application to purchase a new commercial fishing vessel for On-Country Seafood, which was delivered in May 2023.
Mr Brown said the initiative has played a critical role in getting his mud crab business going.
"I grew up learning to fish from Elders who would catch prawns and crabs to eat and to exchange for necessities, like flour and oil. Pretty soon I became interested in diving, and I worked on small pearl farms and catching aquarium fish. Moving to mud crab fishing seemed like a natural transition, but the upfront costs are huge," he said.
Mr Brown said he was contacted by Longreach Maris, whose staff assisted him in applying for fishing permits and the ILSC grant.
"Without the partnership, we wouldn't have got anywhere because the up-front costs are so high," he said.
Mr Brown's goal now is to employ other Indigenous people and ensure they can also access the industry.
"I went into this so I could break the cycle of unemployment in my community, because a lot of people here have been unemployed for a very long time, but they can fish and they do fish every day, just not commercially. If we can employ them to do something they already do as part of their way of life, then it will lead to long-term self-determination," he said.
Qantas Super chief investment officer Andrew Spence said the fund's investment in ITQs, managed by Longreach Maris, will preferentially provide First Nations fishers with long-term and secure access to valuable fishing quota.
"At Qantas Super, we're committed to identifying compelling investment opportunities that deliver strong financial returns to our members while aligning with our values of positive impact and sustainability," Mr Spence said.
"We are committed to innovation regarding impact investing and are proud to be a founding member of the First Nations Fishing Initiative."
Longreach Maris chief investment officer Dr Andrew Rado said despite having a long cultural history of fishing, First Nations peoples had, for the most part, been excluded from the wild-caught seafood industry due to limited access to fishing quota.
"The First Nations Fishing Initiative provides First Nations fishers the opportunity to participate in Australia's sustainable wild-caught seafood industry in a meaningful way," Dr Rado said.
In addition to mud crab fishers in North Queensland, the First Nations Fishing Initiative is also supporting First Nations abalone divers in Tasmania.
Longreach Maris recently released its Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan to include more First Nations fishers into the wild-caught seafood industry, and in turn help contribute to key UN Sustainable Development Goals, Closing the Gap targets and National Fisheries Plan priorities.