Symposium addresses maritime knowledge gaps in northern Australia

Charles Darwin University (CDU) scholars and research partners gathered at Casuarina Campus last month for a symposium on fisheries, sea country, and livelihoods in northern Australia.

The “Encountering Maritime Northern Australia Symposium: Perspectives on Fisheries, Sea Country, and Livelihoods”, organised by Professor Natasha Stacey and Dr Kylie McKenna of CDU’s Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL), was held on April 8 to 10, 2024 with around 20 key researchers in attendance.

Participants discussed research on maritime and coastal areas in the Northern Territory (NT) and wider northern Australia region, including First Nations, recreational and commercial fisheries, policy and management.

This research presentations also considered health and wellbeing, seafood business enterprises, gender and fisheries, resources development impacts, and foreign and transboundary fisheries.

Alongside individual presentations from CDU staff, higher degree by research candidates, and external industry and research partners, the group collectively discussed the contribution of social science research methodologies, the value of a community-based research approach, and access and rights to the marine and coastal regions of the NT and northern Australia from different perspectives.

Attendees also enjoyed a keynote lecture on maritime anthropology from Professor Edyta Roszko, who is currently visiting CDU from Chr. Michelsen Institute in Bergen, Norway.

“During the symposium, we debated the empirical and theoretical contributions that the body of work presented can make to a decolonising marine social science agenda for the NT and northern Australia,” said Professor Stacey.

“We also discussed the action research contributions and impacts our knowledge generation can make.”

The symposium was a major step toward generating a collection of papers that is expected to be published in Maritime Studies journal.

CDU is supporting a two-year effort from scholars and partners to publish the collection of papers, which aims to address a knowledge gap surrounding past and contemporary maritime society and culture in the region.

The collection will also respond to the emerging focus on the ocean and blue spaces as subjects of investigation, with a particular focus on the NT.

This story was originally published in CDU Uni News May 2024 edition