Sustainable Seafood Movement

The global seafood industry has a long and varied history. However, there's a push to change the way we do it to ensure its viability.

Seafood accounts for about 16 per cent of all animal protein consumed world-wide. In the quest to meet growing global demand, production of seafood has grown dramatically in the last five decades, largely as a result of rapid growth in aquaculture. But how sustainable is this boom?

Marine environments are under immense pressure from climate change, pollution and overexploitation. Fishing fleets have grown bigger, and advances in technology and equipment enable the modern industry to fish harder and further afield, threatening the viability of fish populations in the world’s oceans. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, more than 33 per cent of global fish stocks are overfished, meaning they are harvested faster than they can reproduce, and twice that number are fished to their biological limits.

SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD

In general terms, ‘seafood’ is any fish or shellfish from the sea used for food. In the present context, the word embraces edible species — finfish (especially tuna, salmon, trout, swordfish), sharks and rays, crustaceans (crabs, rock lobsters, prawns) and molluscs (abalone, mussels, oysters, scallops) — and non-edible products such as marine fats and oils, fish meal, pearl oysters and ornamental species. To be ‘sustainable’, stocks must be capable of being maintained at a steady level without exhausting natural resources or causing ecological damage. 

Sustainability depends on a complex array of factors — species biology, population dynamics (stock abundance and reproduction rates), food web characteristics, natural habitat, availability of protected nursery areas, environmental changes (sea temperatures, acidification), water quality, production and harvesting techniques — none of which operates in isolation.

DOMESTIC SEAFOOD CONSUMPTION

Australians consume more than 350,000 tonnes of seafood every year, at an average of 13.7kg per person. About two-thirds of it is imported. Frequent seafood eaters (those who consume it once a week or more) account for only 33 per cent of consumers but 77 per cent of total consumption. 

Seafood consumption typically ranks behind poultry, beef and pork but ahead of sheep and lamb, with Australian households spending $5.46 per week on fish and seafood, compared with $27 per week on other meat products. Fresh fish and seafood accounted for 45 per cent of total seafood expenditure, followed by frozen (24 per cent) and canned and bottled (23 per cent) products. Nearly half of all seafood products are purchased in supermarkets, with 26 per cent at specialist seafood stores, 20 per cent directly from fresh fish markets and 16 per cent self-caught.

THE AUSTRALIAN SEAFOOD INDUSTRY

Australia has the right to exploit resources in an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending 200 nautical miles (370km) from the coastline, encompassing the world’s third largest fishing zone of 11 million square kilometres. Despite this, the Australian fishing industry is relatively small by world standards, ranked 52nd in terms of production, because our waters are not very productive — we don’t have large offshore upwellings or sufficient landmass runoff to provide nutrients that support larger fish stocks. 

Nevertheless, the industry makes a significant contribution to the national economy, producing 265,975 tonnes worth $3.18 billion. The three highest producing states are Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia, together accounting for 68 per cent of total gross value of production (GVP). Nationally, the industry employs a workforce of 17,000 people.

Australian seafood comes from a combination of wild capture fisheries and coastal aquaculture operations, with the majority of economic activity in both sectors occurring within state managed areas close to regional communities. Wild-catch fisheries account for the majority of the GVP, with the three most valuable species being rock lobsters, prawns and abalone from Western Australian, South Australian and Commonwealth-managed operations.

Aquaculture is Australia’s fastest growing primary industry, almost doubling production in the last decade to $1.42 billion, with the greatest production occurring in Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland. This expansion was largely driven by increased production of southern bluefin tuna, Atlantic salmon and oysters. 

EXPORTS

Australia exports a large portion of what it produces but still only accounts for about 1 per cent of world trade by value. Total value of Australian seafood exports has increased by 10 per cent to $1.58 billion. Rock lobster and abalone are the largest contributors to our seafood export earnings, while tuna (predominantly southern bluefin, yellowfin, bigeye and albacore) are Australia’s single most valuable finfish export. Eighty eight per cent of our edible fishery products are exported to China, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States.

IMPORTS

The level and composition of Australian seafood production is not sufficient to meet domestic demand. The gap is filled by imports, which total $2.18 billion. More than 200 different kinds of seafood are imported into Australia, mostly frozen prawns, chilled or frozen fish fillets, squid and octopus and canned tuna, salmon and sardines. Our major suppliers are Thailand, Vietnam, China, New Zealand, the United States and UK. 

While imports are necessary for supplementing domestic consumption, much of it comes from countries where environmental and health management standards are lower than those in Australia. Prawn farming in Thailand uses a lot of pesticides and has a devastating impact on local environments. Elsewhere, in Asia and Latin America, illegal fishing, human rights abuses and environmental depredation may also be present.

FISHING TECHNIQUES

Fisheries throughout the world use a range of techniques to catch seafood, and some have a much greater impact on environments than others. The more harmful the method, the less ‘sustainable’ it is.

The least-damaging methods include pole and line fishing (tuna species), dive collection (abalone and rock lobster) and pots and traps (crabs and lobster). Each of these is highly selective, with little or no environmental impact, and unwanted bycatch can be returned to the water quickly and unharmed. 

Purse seine fishing, a technique targeting pelagic (surface/open ocean) school fish such as tuna and mackerel, can be selective and have little impact on marine habitats, but has a higher chance of bycatch, especially dolphins.

Gillnetting employs a predefined mesh size designed to entangle specific target species, such as tuna, mackerel, snapper and barramundi, and allow smaller fish to swim through. While it is highly size-selective and has minimal impact on habitats, the large expanses of netting pose a high risk of bycatch, including turtles, diving seabirds, marine mammals and unsaleable fish and shark species.

Pelagic (surface/open ocean) longlining deploys lines (commonly 10–100km) with thousands of baited hooks targeting apex predators such as billfish, tuna and sharks. Being suspended from buoys, longlines pose minimal risk to marine habitats but bycatch can be as high as 20 per cent of the total catch. This is of particular concern with demersal (seafloor) longlining where the bycatch may include unsaleable shark and deep-sea fish species that are commonly long-lived and slow growing.

Pelagic trawling is commonly used to catch schooling species, such as tuna and mackerel, and can be quite selective with minimal fish bycatch. However, shark and marine mammal entanglement can be significant.

The most damaging fishing techniques are demersal trawling (for flathead, flounder and orange roughy) and dredging (scallops and clams). Both systems deploy equipment that is dragged across the seabed potentially causing significant damage to fragile habitats, ploughing invertebrates such as sponges and corals from the bottom, as well as high levels of bycatch.

AQUACULTURE IN FOCUS

More than 40 different types of seafood are cultivated in Australian aquaculture farms, and we import several farmed seafood products from overseas. Aquaculture has the potential to grow food more efficiently than most forms of land-based animal agriculture as it can be done with substantially less reliance on natural resources. However, aquaculture’s sustainability credentials vary significantly across the sector. As with wild-catch fisheries, different methods of aquaculture have different impacts, and some techniques attract considerable controversy.

Open aquaculture (passive feeding) systems — sticks, ropes, racks and cages suspended in natural waterways or standing on the seafloor — are most commonly used to farm oysters, mussels and scallops, and are considered a relatively benign, indeed positively beneficial, form of aquaculture. Being filter-feeders, these species extract nutrition from the surrounding water, with no additional feeding. In some cases, they actually improve water quality by filtering out pollutants and toxic algae. 

Open sea-cage aquaculture in Australia is a rapidly developing system for farming yellowtail kingfish, southern bluefin tuna, barramundi, trout and Atlantic salmon. It consists of large, netted cages floated in estuaries or embayments, in which dense schools of juvenile fish are penned and grown out to marketable size. This method has several major detriments for the environment. The juvenile stock may be sourced from wild populations that are already endangered, before they’ve had a chance to breed, placing further pressure on wild stocks of the species. Also, finfish grown in open systems are primarily carnivorous species which are fed on a diet of fishmeal (pellets comprising small wild-caught school fish). It can take up to 5kg of fishmeal to produce 1kg of farmed fish, placing even more pressure on wild fisheries. Other problems with this technique include increased risk of disease and parasite transmission due to high fish densities, and reduced water quality resulting from nutrient overload and the accumulation of faecal waste.

Semi-closed aquaculture refers to land-based production in which water is exchanged between the farm and an adjacent natural waterway. Such operations are often located on coastal wetlands and mangroves that have been reclaimed for the purpose, resulting in loss of habitat critical for the juvenile stage of many species. 

Constant outflow of waste water may also reduce surrounding water quality if not treated adequately. Prawns — the predominant species of semi-closed farming — are supplemented with fishmeal at a conversion ratio of up to 3kg of feed to 1kg of prawns.

In closed or land-based aquaculture, freshwater species (commonly silver perch, barramundi, yabbies and marron) and some marine species of abalone are reared in raceways, tanks and ponds in which the water is recycled through filtration processes and returned to the system. Although having high power demands, closed systems are considered one of the more environmentally friendly methods because of the tight control over waste water and the prevention of fish escape into natural waterways.

MANAGING FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE

Australian commercial fisheries and aquaculture farms within three nautical miles offshore are managed by state and territory governments, while the Commonwealth manages the EEZ from there to the 200 nautical mile limit through the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA). AFMA also combats illegal fishing on the high seas with the assistance of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Australian Navy.

All fisheries are managed through a range of tailored measures. Output controls such as catch limits or quotas involve equipment restrictions and maximum limits on the number of fish that is allowed to be caught from a stock in a given year or fishing season. Input controls are also common, targeting vessel size, specific gear restrictions and zone closures to certain types of fishing. Aquaculture operators are required to comply with stringent environmental controls to protect public waters. Strict food health standards also apply to domestic aquaculture and wild capture products and imported seafood to ensure they are safe for human consumption.

SUSTAINABLE SPECIES

The status of key Australian wild-caught fish stocks is monitored to determine whether the abundance of fish (biomass) and the level of harvest are sustainable. In the 2019 assessment of 96 fish stocks across 22 fisheries, 11 were classified as overfished. 

Sustainable seafood guides have been devised by assessing species based on their abundance, management and whether they have been caught or farmed in environmentally sustainable ways. One of these is published by the Australian Marine Conservation Society, which classifies seafood (local and imported) into three colour-coded categories — red represents products to avoid, amber is a good alternative, and green is the best choice. 

Red light species include pink ling, mulloway (Jewfish), orange roughy, flake, bluefin tuna, basa, hake, deep sea dory and farmed prawns. Less should be eaten, and alternatives sought, for wild caught barramundi, blue grenadier, emperors, mahi mahi, endeavour prawns, swordfish and yellowfin tuna. 

Australian wild-caught species that are the best choice for the dinner table include Australian salmon, crabs, flathead, mackerel, pink snapper, squid, king prawns and whiting; and farmed varieties such as barramundi, cobia, Murray cod, blue mussels, oysters and banana prawns.

STANDARDISED FISH NAMES

A key obstacle to choosing sustainable seafood is being able to accurately identify the species being sold. Many species have several names that may vary from state to state or be used by retailers to market otherwise unpopular fish. Also, many are marketed under generic names, such as bream, cod or flake, which might refer to different species, some of which may be more sustainable than others.

To avoid confusion, the Australian Fish Names Standard was introduced in 2007 specifying a single name for each species to be used nationally and across all stages of the supply chain, whether it is caught locally or imported. 

Seafood Services Australia has also developed the ‘Fish Names Brand Scheme’ to compliment and promote the Standard. Retailers displaying the Approved Fish Names logo are required to use the correct (standard) names on all products. 

Additionally, since 2008 legislation requires all seafood sold in Australian retail outlets (both packaged and unpackaged) must be labelled with the country of origin so Australian consumers can tell the difference between domestic and imported products. While this is a good for seafood traceability, it is still possible to buy fish that was farmed or caught overseas, but processed in Australia and labelled as ‘Made in Australia’. Also, the labelling requirement only applies to retailers — the food service industry (restaurants, cafes, etc) are not required to inform customers of the country of origin, except in the Northern Territory, where the requirement is simply to identify seafood imported for immediate consumption to be labelled as imported. 

CERTIFICATION AND ECOLABELLING

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) are among several organisations that set standards for best practice in fishing and seafood farming respectively. Both are global non-profit organisations that work with producers, scientists and conservation groups to encourage environmentally friendly seafood choices through a combination of certification and ecolabeling. Worldwide, more than 100 fisheries and farms have received MSC/ASC certification, including several Commonwealth- and state-managed fisheries in Australia.

Fisheries and aquafarms are assessed on the health of their fish stock, the environmental impact of their harvesting/production methods, and the rigour of their management systems. After review by an independent third party and certification, the producer is entitled to use the MSC or ASC eco-label as a guarantee to consumers that its products come from a sustainable source. Additionally, all companies in the supply chain that take ownership of the products — distributors, wholesalers, manufacturers, pack houses, traders, retailers, caterers and restaurants — must acquire Chain of Custody Certification. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Some proponents contend that sustainability starts with consumers and the purchasing decisions we make in the demand-based seafood market. We need to be mindful of our consumption and educate ourselves about what products are sustainable and what are not, where the products come from and how they are fished or farmed. By exercising our purchasing power wisely, we send a clear message up the supply chain (to restaurants, retailers, wholesalers, farmers and fishers) that responsible practices are a viable and necessary part of their industry. Making sustainable choices now can give us the best chance of being able to enjoy seafood in the future. 

TIPS FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

1. Inform yourself with a pocket guide or go online, there’s loads of helpful information out there (see our Contacts box p78).
2. In the marketplace, politely ask before you buy — what species is it (identified by a standardised fish name); what country is it from; and how was it caught or farmed? 
3. Tell your favourite grocer and restaurants that you prefer certified sustainable seafood — adding your voice will encourage others to follow suit.
4. Choose more sustainable species, eat less of those that are overfished and avoid those on the ‘Red List’.
5. Look out for accredited certification logos and eco-labels and choose products from well-managed fisheries.
6. Buy local — Australia has some of the best managed fisheries in the world, and cheap imports are often fished or farmed without the same care for the environment.
7. Buy fresh to avoid unnecessary packaging and reduce plastic pollution.
8. Diversify your choice and try something different — consider alternatives lower down the food chain, balance the pressure across fish stocks and spread the impact of consumption.

CONTACTS

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND THE ENVIRONMENT

awe.gov.au

AUSTRALIAN FISHERIES AND MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (AFMA)

afma.gov.au

FISHERIES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (FRDC)

frdc.com.au

AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL AND RESOURCE ECONOMIC AND SCIENCES (ABARES)

agriculture.gov.au/abares

NSW DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing

NT DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY AND RESOURCES

dpir.nt.gov.au/#Fisheries

QLD DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTuRE AND FISHERIES

daf.qld.gov.au

SA DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES AND REGIONS

pir.sa.gov.au

TAS DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES, PARKS, WATER AND ENVIRONMENT

dpipwe.tas.gov.au

VICTORIAN FISHERIES AUTHORITY

vfa.vic.gov.au

WA DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES

fish.wa.gov.au

MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL

msc.org

AUSTRALIAN MARINE CONSERVATION SOCIETY

amcs.org.au

GOODFISHBADFISH

goodfishbadfish.com.au

GREENPEACE AUSTRALIA PACIFIC

greenpeace.org/australia

FRIEND OF THE SEA

friendofthesea.org