Plenary Speakers


Senator the Hon Don Farrell
Minister for Trade and Tourism

Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farell has once again shown his support for Australia’s lobster industry by responding with enthusiasm to our invitation to open the Trans-Tasman Lobster Conference in Melbourne.

Minister Farrell was instrumental in leading discussions with his counterparts in China regarding the re-opening of trade for Australian live lobster. The lobster industry continues to work closely with the Department of Trade and Tourism in providing support and information to assist with the Minister’s engagement in key export markets.

Seafood Industry Victoria and the Conference Organising Committee are grateful for Minister Farrell’s enduring support for the industry and look forward to hosting him at our world class event.

Darren Lim
Senior Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations,
Australian National University

Darren is Australia’s leading expert on economic security, geoeconomics and the nexus between economics and geopolitics. His credentials speak for themselves with a PhD (and Masters) from Princeton University in Politics and Public Policy. 

Since joining the Australian National University in 2015 Darren has led extensive research on China trade relations, including looking at the domestic foundations for trade sanctions and how they are removed. Darren regularly provides advice and training to government on topics of economic security, Chinese foreign policy and geopolitics generally. He has also been called upon to provide talks at influential corporate forums and more regional audiences across Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and NZ on issues of economic security and geoeconomics.

As co-founder and host of a podcast on Australian foreign policy, Australia in the World, Darren has had the opportunity to interview prominent members of parliament including Ministers Penny Wong and Tim Watts on key issues. The podcast is approaching 160 episodes and over 600k downloads since it began in 2018!

The Organising Committee for the 2025 Trans-Tasman Lobster Conference is thrilled to have secured Darren Lim as a plenary speaker on the opening day of the conference. We look forward to understanding his perspective on how the Australian/NZ lobster industry might navigate the ever-evolving global geopolitical landscape to minimise risk and maximise prosperity in key global markets.


Invited Speakers


Associate Professor Adam Miller

Cesar Australia and Flinders University

Adam Miller is an Associate Professor in marine science and ecological genomics at Cesar Australia and Flinders University, and co-lead of the EcoGenetics Lab. His research program focuses on addressing critical knowledge gaps associated with the ecology and evolution of native and invasive species and the development of adaptive management solutions for improving biodiversity outcomes, food security and pest control in a rapidly changing world. This program is geared towards the use of modern genomic technologies and bioinformatics, along with complementary geospatial tools, modelling approaches, and quantitative experimentation, to investigate species’ environmental stress responses and adaptive capacities, spatial and trophic ecologies, as well as demographic histories and evolutionary trajectories. Adam’s research spans a wide range of study systems including animals and plants and ecosystems extending from our oceans to mountain summit. He has a long history working with both invertebrate and finfish commercial fisheries and working with industry stakeholders to better understand drivers of fisheries productivity, recruitment dynamics and biological stock structure, and fisheries resilience to harvest pressure and environmental disturbance.

An Yan

China Country Representative, Marine Stewardship Council

An Yan has over 20 years of experience in promoting international sustainability standards across various sectors, including forestry, major agricultural commodities, and fisheries. Her primary focus is on advancing the local implementation of global sustainability standards in China, supporting industrial transformation and the development of sustainable products.

In 2013, she established the MSC China Program Office. Since then, she and her team have been committed to promoting sustainable fishery standards and increasing the number of certified seafood products in China. Through partnerships with research institutions, industry associations, and key stakeholders, MSC has made significant progress in supporting sustainable fisheries and driving market growth in the region.

An Yan holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and a master’s in business management, with a research focus on marketing and supply chain management.

Chauncey Hammond

Chair, Fishing Families WA

Chauncey has been the Chair of Fishing Families WA since 2018. He operates his own management consulting firm applying high level strategic and commercial advice to the owners of a variety of significant wild catch fisheries that have operations in Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland.  In addition, he sits on ten domestic company boards dealing with wild harvest fisheries, renewable energy and beef production.

He has extensive experience in the following wild harvest commercial fisheries: lobster, tuna, abalone, prawns, scallops, sea cucumber and stout whiting.

Chauncey has degrees in law, engineering and finance and has been involved (approximate value) in projects ($2.5+ Billion) and mergers & acquisitions in excess of $700M.  For over 30 years, he has been the commercial and strategic advisor, project manager and primary negotiator to major Australian Seafood Companies.

Claire Spillman

Principal Research Scientist, Bureau of Meteorology

Dr Claire Spillman is a Principal Research Scientist and leads the Seasonal and Marine Applications Team in Research at the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia. Her current research is focused on seasonal forecasting for marine applications, particularly marine heatwave prediction, coastal hazards, and coral reef, aquaculture and fisheries management.Dr Spillman is an Associate Investigator in the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX), a member of the IMOS Science and Technology Advisory Committee and the Australian representative on the WMO Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Project Steering Committee. She is frequently called on to give webinars and briefings such as the national ocean climate briefing series hosted by FRDC, and to contribute to government and industry. 

Kate Brooks

Director, KAL Analysis Pty Ltd

Dr Kate Brooks; B.A., Dip.Mktg., M.Litt (Soc), PhD (Soc) and ARLP Graduate (C19); Director, KAL Analysis Pty Ltd; Chair of the FRDC Capability and Capacity Building program; Chair, SA Allocation Review Committee; previous director of FRDC and OzFish Unlimited and HDR Program founder.  

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Kate Brooks is a social scientist focused on understanding how people can see their world and its issues from different perspectives to address issues, assess and inform industry, policy, resource planning and sustainability. With a focus on management systems, Kate has undertaken research and analysis across a range of the recreational and commercial fishing industry’s sectors, with a passion for working through social systems and culture change to create solutions that are economically and environmentally integrated and sustainable. She now works to ensure top-down change meets grass roots needs, capability and capacity.  

Kristin Hoel

Project Manager, OceanWatch Australia

Driven by a deep respect for the ocean and those who work on it, Kristin is passionate about the intersection of sustainable seafood and marine conservation. As Project Manager for OceanWatch Australia’s Whale Entanglement Mitigation Program, she leads the East Coast initiative focused on reducing whale interaction risk in Australian fisheries through practical, industry-led solutions. With a strong background in fisheries social science, Kristin brings extensive experience in navigating complex and often contentious issues within the fishing industry, including whale interactions, shark depredation, and gear theft. Her collaborative approach and genuine appreciation for the fishing community have made her a trusted voice in the search for innovative, workable outcomes. She firmly believes in supporting a thriving fishing industry while protecting marine life and is driven by a commitment to finding solutions that benefit both—where responsible harvesting meets forward-thinking conservation.

Lachlan McKinnon

Senior Fisheries Manager, Brown & May Marine Australia

Lachlan is currently employed as Senior Fisheries Manager with Brown & May Marine Australia, specialising in the provision of fishing liaison services to Ashore energy industries. Lachlan’s previous role was Fisheries Manager at Southerly Ten, a specialist Ashore wind developer from the team behind Star of the South – Australia’s most advanced Ashore wind project. Lachlan has spent over 30 years in fisheries research and management, aquaculture, commercial fishing and seafood export. Along with being a Gippsland local, this has provided him with the relevant experience to build working relationships between Ashore energy developers and commercial and recreational fishers. This includes developing an understanding of fishing activity in the Gippsland Ashore renewable energy area, determining the potential impacts on fishing, and working with fishers and developers to find ways for both industries to co exist. 

Russell Barnett

Independent Chair, Western Rock Lobster Council Inc

In addition to chairing the Western Rock Lobster Council, the peak body for Australia’s largest wild catch fishery by value, Russell (Russ) is a principal of Australian Venture Consultants, a Perth based consultancy practice. Within a broad portfolio of natural resource-based client engagements over the past two decades, Russ has led several analytical projects that have informed industry advocacy on fisheries resource access security and other fisheries policy matters across Australia.


Samantha Twiname

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania

Samantha Twiname is a Research Fellow with the Crustacean Team within the Fisheries and Aquaculture Centre at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. Her research has spanned food web ecology, climate change physiology, marine heatwave monitoring, recreational fisheries surveys and commercial fisheries catch sampling. Sam’s PhD looked at the effects of climate change on resident and range shifting lobsters in Tasmania, looking at their physiological responses to warming waters, and how their behaviour and biomass could shift under future climate change scenarios. Currently, Sam is working with Southern Rock Lobster, including assessing recreational catch of the species in Tasmania, as well as aiding the collection of commercial fisheries dependent data for fisheries stock assessments

Scott Hadley

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania

Dr Scott Hadley works as a biogeochemical modeller for University of Tasmania in the centre for Fisheries and Aquaculture (IMAS). His background is in numerical modelling and computer science. He develops and applies numerical, statistical and machine learning models within fisheries and aquaculture to help make these industries more sustainable. He works alongside a team of researchers and technical experts that collaborate on a range of projects within IMAS.


Simon Dick

Co‑Founder, Real Time Data (RTD)

Simon Dick is the co‑founder of Real Time Data (RTD), the technology company replacing clipboards and guesswork with purpose‑built software for frontline workers.

Guided by RTD’s vision to empower the once‑overlooked with real‑time, data‑driven decisions, Simon led the creation of Deckhand—an offline‑first platform that turns rugged workflows into big‑button simplicity while letting crews keep full ownership of their data.

Starting in Australia’s harsh commercial-fishing sector, Deckhand is now in operation across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Costa Rica. The platform is being used in a variety of ways—providing evidence of resource use, empowering real-time decision-making, and powering innovative new fishery management approaches.

Deckhand’s ability to support custom workflows has helped RTD secure major partners like Trident Seafoods and a California state pilot, demonstrating that technology works best when it adapts to the way people actually work.

He is passionate about bridging the gap between people and technology, turning complex environments into simple, effective digital tools that give primary industries control over their future.

Tom Parker

National CEO, Australia China Business Council

Tom Parker is a dynamic leader with deep expertise in trade facilitation, investment attraction and collaboration between Australia and China. A Mandarin speaker, Tom has successfully led high-profile, cross border initiatives across government and the private sector, including trade missions, sports diplomacy, export development, and official visits programs. With proven leadership as a CEO, he has managed remote and culturally diverse teams and continues to build extensive networks with government and corporate leaders across Australia, and China. His strategic mindset, persistence and ability to negotiate outstanding results in complex, multi-stakeholder environments ensure practical outcomes aligned with economic and business priorities.

Zoe Doubleday

Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer, University of South Australia

I am a research scientist and lecturer, and I lead the MARIS lab at the University of South Australia (www.marislab.org). My research spans marine ecology, fisheries, and marine invertebrate biology with outcomes that support conservation, sustainable seafood production, and food security. I am an internationally recognised expert on cephalopods and have expertise in their sustainable harvest and welfare. I am passionate about science communication and storytelling, and I work regularly with radio, TV, and print media in Australia and overseas. In 2022, I received the Agrifood Award from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering for my innovative research and contribution to the fisheries sector.

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