Guiding Australian Consumers to Sustainable Seafood Choices - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 389

Chapter 19
Guiding Australian Consumers to
Sustainable Seafood Choices

Craig Bohm

19.1 Introduction

Overfishing in Australia is a fact. In 2005, the Australian Bureau of Rural Sciences
(BRS) reported that the number of fish species overfished had increased from 5 in
1992 to 24 in 2004 (McLoughlin 2006), about one-quarter of all high-value species
managed by the Australian Government. However, BRS does not report on the
sustainability of species which are managed by State and Territory (regional) gov-
ernments, and as there is also still limited reporting of bycatch and other ecological
interactions of most fisheries, the environmental sustainability of fishing cannot be
assessed on a national scale (Ward & Butler 2006).
According to Ward and Butler in their analysis provided to the National State
of the Environment Report (SOE) 2006 (http://www.deh.gov.au/soe/2006/index.
html), fishing in Australia is everywhere. Commercial fishing operates in all waters
and increasingly in most remote areas and depths, and while the estuaries of trop-
ical Australia are remote, most are heavily fished, some are affected by sediment
and agricultural chemical transport from the hinterland, some of their species are
threatened, and their associated wetlands are increasingly being altered by changing
rainfall regimes and seawater incursions.
Further, Ward and Butler report that nationally, a number of Australia's fish stocks
are at alarmingly low levels and that the combined fishing effort of recreational and
commercial fisheries puts pressure on fish stocks and on the associated species,
habitats and ecosystems. There are also inadequate biomass reference points to
determine the condition of the stocks, few reliable data and no fully independent
assessment of fish stocks or the fisheries.
Increasingly, news about overfishing and poor fishing (and aquaculture) practices
is permeating into mainstream consciousness of Australians. Seafood consumers
in Australia are hearing this news and are seeking ways to ensure that they are part
of the solution and not part of the problem. As a result, many have turned to the
Australian Marine Conservation Society for guidance.