Hunter MP and Shadow Minister for Agriculture Joel Fitzgibbon met with Bermagui Fishing Co-op chair Rocky Lagano on Tuesday to announce the party's plans for the sector ahead of the May 18 federal election.

Mr Fitzgibbon said the summit, which will also include state and federal regulators and recreational fishing representatives, will help form future policy on the sector.

The party will also commit $10million to the CSIRO Climate Science Centre, develop a climate science capability plan and lift research and development investment to three per cent of GDP per annum by 2030.

Mr Fitzgibbon said "state and commonwealth cooperation", climate change and biosecurity will also be a focus for the party.

"Now in agriculture, I often talk about adding value to our opportunities and there is no sector where there are greater opportunities to add value than in the fisheries sector," he said.

Mr Lagano said while he is "optimistic" about the future, constantly fluctuating reforms and quotas make it difficult to gauge "what's really happening" with fish stocks.

He said he welcomed the announcement of new research money.

"We are making decisions on votes, not on actual science," Mr Lagano said.

"We need to be spot on with the science because we're dealing with people's livelihoods."

With 20 years experience as a commercial fisherman he has witnessed changes to fish stocks over time with little answers as to why.

"I've definitely seen changes in stocks and catches," Mr Lagano said.

"Some have decreased while others have increased.

"I believe that the ocean has also been effected [by climate change] and it's hard to put your finger on it.

"If the water is getting warmer then fish will move around because they really like their temperature."