About Shoalhaven Marine & Freshwater Centre

The 5-year mission of the SMFC until 2012 is:

"To establish a centre which carries out world-class research and postgraduate teaching activities, based on the needs of the south eastern region of Australia."

As a result of regional demands for tertiary education, the University of Wollongong developed the South Coast Education Network (SCEN), which includes the Shoalhaven Campus at Nowra. In the early stages of development of SCEN, coastal and marine research was identified as a regional priority and $660,000 of Federal funding was provided toward establishing the Shoalhaven Marine & Freshwater Centre. Key areas of research that have been identified for the centre include the application of marine science to natural resource management, seafood security and sustainable marine industry development .

The Shoalhaven Marine and Freshwater Centre (SMFC) is part of the University's strategy of providing the Illawarra, South Coast and Far South Coast regions of NSW with access to tertiary teaching and research services that meet the regional demands, address global challenges and are of the highest international standards.

A University of Wollongong Strategic Research Initiatives grant is providing additional seed funding until 2012 to establish a SMFC research network, projects and the capacity to undertake priority projects for the region and beyond that include:

• Seafood Security (Sustainable Aquaculture& Traditional Fisheries)
• Applied Seaweed Research (Phycology)
• Natural Marine Products, as well as Natural Marine Resource Management

Additional funds are provided for specific research projects through government grants and partner funding.