Seafood & Sustainability

Increasingly, consumers want to be sure that the seafood they buy is sustainably harvested… so here’s the good news!

While seafood stocks are limited, they are also renewable, and can be harvested sustainably when well managed! In Australia, we are lucky to have highly regulated, well-managed fisheries. All fisheries in Australian waters are managed under the principles of ecological sustainable development (ESD). This means that our fisheries are managed not only for the long-term sustainability of the target species, but also for the broader marine environment.

The commercial fishing sector also works in close co-operation with the government to ensure our fisheries are managed for long-term sustainability. After all, their livelihood and future depend on it! The seafood industry also supports OceanWatch Australia Ltd (OWA), which is a national not-for-profit environmental company that works to advance sustainability in the Australian seafood industry.

What is the industry doing about bycatch?

Bycatch is the part of the fisher’s catch that is not the target species. Commercial fishers, makers of fishing gear, researchers, government, and non-government organisations have introduced a variety of changes to fishing gear and practices that have helped reduce bycatch. For commercial fishers, reducing bycatch ensures minimal ecological impact and improves the efficiency of fishing operations by improving product quality, reducing operational costs due to drag on their nets, cleaner catches and reduced sorting times, and safer working conditions due to reduced handling of large and sometimes dangerous non-target species.

Advice for consumers who are still concerned?

For consumers who are still concerned about the sustainability of Australian seafood, we recommend that they:

  1. Select a variety of different seafood to eat.
  2. Choose species that are in season (ask your fishmonger), and
  3. Stick to short-lived, quick-growing, and fast-breeding seafood species. Fortunately, this includes a great variety of popular species such as bream, whiting, leather jackets, flathead, mullet, luderick, mackerel, sardines, prawns, calamari/squid, octopus, etc.

Want to learn more about what’s been done to manage our fish stocks sustainably?

We recommend that you visit:

The MFMA is a founding member and proud sponsor of OceanWatch Australia Ltd

OceanWatch Australia Ltd is a national not-for-profit environmental company that works to advance sustainability in the Australian seafood industry. For more information checkout the OceanWatch Australia website.

OceanWatch Australia
www.oceanwatch.org.au