Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
In 2004, Australian Marine Conservation Society responded by developing
Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide (the Guide)
The 2004 Guide offered
Australian seafood consumers an insight into the sustainability of 30 commonly
eaten domestic seafood species, and provided a series of fact sheets about the na-
ture of the fishing and aquaculture industries that provide these species. In 2006,
the Guide was updated and expanded (and is referred to here as the 2006 Guide),
doubling the number of species assessed (from 30 to 60 species) and including
an assessment of aquaculture methods and the sustainability of species grown in
aquaculture production (Plate 19.1). The seafood fact sheet series was also incorpo-
rated into this Guide and additional topics added. Both the 2004 and 2006 Guides
were supported by a 3 Step Pocket Guide , a convenient wallet-sized card that lists
known overfished species and suggests useful questions consumers could ask at
the seafood counter. For the sake of clarity, this chapter primarily focuses on the
production of the 2006 Guide.
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19.2
Description of the Guide
The Guide is a full-colour, 55-page, A6 booklet. It begins with an impassioned
Foreword by Tim Winton, prominent Australian author and Australian Marine
Conservation Society Patron. The main body of the Guide is divided into four
sections - Sections 1-3 presents the 'Say No', 'Think Twice' or 'Better Choice'
seafood species where both wild-capture and aquaculture species are presented.
Table 19.1 outlines these species and their categorisation used in the Guide.
Section 4 of the Guide introduces the reader to a range of related seafood topics.
These include:
fishing gear types and their potential impacts;
aquaculture types and their potential impacts;
seafood and what it means for human health;
seafood labelling, its deficiencies and needs;
seafood imports and their role in the domestic market place;
supermarket seafood and its sources;
marine national parks and their role in sustaining seafood populations;
understanding the concept of 'shifting baselines' and how our perceptions of
overfishing have change overtime; and
commonly asked questions that consumers can use when purchasing seafood.
The Guide is supplemented by a wallet-sized ' 3 Step Pocket Guide' , which lists
'overfished' species and includes the commonly asked questions consumers can use
to help ascertain the sustainability of the seafood on offer at the seafood counter.
The 3 Step Pocket Guide is available free of charge with each seafood Guide pur-
chase or can be ordered at cost in bulk by educational institutions, conservation
groups or other supporting organisations. A small fee is charged for the Guide to
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