Guiding Australian Consumers to Sustainable Seafood Choices - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 395

From the wild-capture sector, oreos ( Oreosomatidae species) and sharks and rays
( Chondrichthyan species) were also included in the 'Say No” section of the
expanded edition Guide. At the time the second edition of the Guide was released,
these species were not classified by BRS as 'overfished' but were deemed by the
Australian Marine Conservation Society to be of sufficient conservation concern to
be included in this section.
Oreos are deep-sea species that are particularly vulnerable to overfishing
(Rogers 2004). Oreos are taken by deep-sea otterboard trawlers of southern
Australia as part of the Southern and Eastern Scale Fish and Shark Fishery
(www.afma.gov.au/fisheries/sess/sess/default.htm). The Australian Marine Con-
servation Society asked consumers to avoid eating oreos to help convince the
AFMA that oreos fishing was not sustainable and that deep-sea trawling (be-
low 500 m) should be phased because of its impact on deep-sea habitats. More
recently, BRS listed oreos as 'overfished' in its 2005 Fishery Status Report
(www.affashop.gov.au/product.asp?prodid=13611), and this will be reflected in fu-
ture editions of the Guide.
Most populations of sharks and rays (chondrichthyan species) are of low pro-
ductivity relative to teleost fishes - a consequence of their different life-history
strategies (IUCN 2003a, Stevens et al. 2000). Historically, many shark fisheries
were characterised by boom and bust cycles of exploitation, making the fisheries
economically unviable and leaving behind a locally depleted population (Fowler
et al. 2002). As fisheries have expanded to meet the growing demand for shark
fins and other shark products over the last two decades, few shark populations now
remain unexploited or are given the opportunity to recover (Fowler et al. 2002).
On these grounds, the Australian Marine Conservation Society decided to include
all chondrychthians in the 'Say No' section of the Guide. More recently, BRS has
listed Australia's deepwater sharks as 'overfished' in its 2005 Fishery Status Re-
port, vindicating the early concerns about the conservation of sharks. The recent
findings of BRS will be reflected in future editions of the Guide.

'Think Twice' species
The following criteria applied to species included in the 'Think Twice' category:
(a) the species is currently not listed by BRS as being 'overfished';

and/or

(b) the species is considered by BRS or a fisheries management agency as being

in the process of being 'overfished', e.g. pink ling, or regionally 'overfished',
e.g. snapper;
and/or

(c) The Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH) Strategic Assessment

Reports (http://www.deh.gov.au/coasts/fisheries/index.html) or individual sci-
entific reports paint a picture of high fishing pressure and/or low species