Katherine Hawes @ Aquarius Lawyers is a Solicitor and Barrister, business influencer, social entrepreneur, and media personality, based in Sydney, Australia.

Known as the ‘Fish Lawyer’, Katherine is passionate about the Marine and Aquaculture industries and provides advice to clients within the marine and maritime environment, including ocean-based businesses, commercial fisheries, defence of fisheries and pollution prosecutions, aquaculture, marinas, maritime security, commercial shipping, cruise liners, marine resources management and marine and fisheries international law.

Katherine has over 20 years’ experience at law and has appeared before the full bench of the High Court and is often asked to be a guest lecturer at Australian universities on topics such as International Fisheries Law and Fisheries Prosecutions. Her passion is the ‘blue economy’ where the growth of shipping and aquaculture business requires further regulation on how the ‘blue space’ will be utilised for future generations.

Due to her vast experience in legal issues which affect the marine environment she is a regular guest speaker at international conferences. Her expertise and knowledge are also regularly featured in a wide range of magazines.

Katherine is currently the director and legal counsel for the Association of International Seafood Professionals and has held the position of Treasurer and Secretary of the World Aquaculture Society Asian Pacific Chapter Executive Committee (WAS APC) and is currently a Director of this organisation. She is also the chairperson of Aquaculture without Frontiers charity. Katherine has participated on several Boards as a non-executive member and provides guidance on compliance and legal issues.

Katherine has been a practising lawyer for 20 years, with extensive legal and training experience. She has over 30 years’ experience in the legal profession either as a clerk, solicitor or barrister across all jurisdictions. She is the principal solicitor of Digital Age Lawyers and Aquarius Lawyers.

Katherine has a mixed background of education, legal and media experience. She currently lecturers in the areas of legal issues for businesses and law for non-lawyers, including business law, corporations’ law, WHS, risk management, and legal issues for event management.

Katherine has extensive experience in designing and implementing adult education programs within the legal environment, specialising in providing legal knowledge to non-lawyers. She has demonstrated management and change management skills having supervised up to 90 employees.

Overall excellent knowledge and experience which allows her to provide an inspirational learning experience for students.

Katherine is an early adopter of new technology to ensure that her clients can make contact easily, are kept up to date and can self-service their legal documents from anywhere, anytime. Apart from marine and aquaculture matters Katherine is interested in the legal challenges from the rise of Artificial Intelligence Law, robotics, and block chain technology in marine and aquaculture commercial business practice.

These three technologies alone will shape the future of both shipping and aquaculture globally as we trace products from catch to consumer. Data from these technologies can assist in issues such as overfishing, redevelopment of low stock levels, species management and assist in emerging shipping and aquaculture markets.

She is also passionate about addressing the APAC Region’s different marine laws in each of the States of Australia where these different legal systems and Maritime Law is still based on 18th Century legal principles. This lack of contemporary regulation around the shipping and aquaculture industries needs to address as we move forward with future enabling technologies to develop the ‘blue economy’.

Currently Katherine is using her previous High Court case law matters in pursuing a Class Action relative to the Quota Management System developed by the NSW Department of Primary Industries on behalf of Commercial Fisherman in NSW. She is also providing a pro-bono service to appeal to the High Court a previous decision on fishing quotas in NSW.

As the “Fish Lawyer’ Katherine is in a unique position to use her knowledge and experience to assist in guiding the review of marina and aquaculture regulation and the implementation of new technologies that can assist the reshaping and further development of ocean-based industries.

Katherine has recently undertaken review and reported on the status of aquaculture laws in the Pacific as part of a wider report into the development of aquaculture. She has also been commissioned to assist in the drafting of legislation for the development of aquaculture.