While the first known fishing co-operative operated in Queenscliff, Victoria in the early 1870s, the Curtin Labor Government during the Second World War promoted fishing co-operatives to improve the efficiency of the Australian fishing industry. There were also complaints in NSW about licensed fish agents in the Sydney Fish Markets and unlicensed operators elsewhere. The fishers were unorganised and prey to exploitation by agents.
A NSW Labor government inquiry in 1945 highlighted the lack of organized facilities for handling, packing, storing and marketing of fish at coastal communities. It was recommended that the NSW Government encourage fishing co-operatives and establish a centralised Sydney co-operative distributing organization. Government consultation also revealed that fishers preferred centralized marketing facilities run by them.
NSW Government cancelled the agent’s licences and took direct control of the Sydney Fish Market. It provided trained officers to assist with co-operative formation, gave financial guarantees where fishers had to obtain loans to build infrastructure and authorised co-operatives to operate fish markets. The co-operatives, which began to be formed at major NSW fishing centres after 1945, acquired refrigeration plants and ice making facilities. There were also investments in shore radio stations to provide information on the catch for the co-operative depot and safeguard the lives of the fishers while at sea.
Some fishing co-operatives began to “snap freeze” their catch for market. By 1960 there were 19 fishing co-operatives operating in NSW with a membership of approximately 1,780. It was estimated that the NSW co-operatives had an average coverage of 90 per cent of the fishers. WA lobster fishers, concerned that the lack of a marketing organisation weakened their bargaining position with dealers, formed co-operatives at Fremantle in 1947 and Geraldton in 1950.
These co-operatives were concerned with the sustainability of industry, actively campaigned against the processing of an undersized catch, and began exporting to North America and Europe. A current example of a fishing co-operative is the Commercial Fishermen’s Co-operative at Wickham in Newcastle founded in 1945 with currently 130 members. It operates seven receiving docks for members’ catches and to maximise their returns owns and leases retail shops in locations such as Newcastle and Tea Gardens. There is also a fishing processing facility at Newcastle and the co-operative runs seafood preparation and cooking demonstrations for the public to promote local seafood.
For further details, please download Greg Patmore, Nikola Balnave and Olivera Marjanovic, A History of Australian Co-operatives 1828-2023.