Sustainable seafood is the way this Easter

This Easter, help keep our oceans healthy by choosing sustainable seafood with the GoodFish sustainable seafood guide. Easter is one of the highest periods in the year for seafood consumption.

“The GoodFish guide has assessed more than 93 percent of the seafood on the Australian market so it’s easy to find your favourites or a simple and sustainable swap. Over the past couple of years we have updated our assessments for more than 150,000 tons/year of seafood caught or farmed in Australia, says Adrian Meder, Australian Marine Conservation Society Sustainable Seafood Program Manager.

Barramundi is a classic Aussie fish. If you’re choosing barra from your local supermarket or fishmonger this Easter make sure it’s Australian-farmed barra because Australian wild caught barramundi can come with a side of endangered species. The gillnets used to catch wild barramundi in the Northern Territory and Queensland waters sadly catch large numbers of protected and endangered sawfish, turtles and dugongs as bycatch.

Whiting is another fantastic fish for this season, as it is light and easy to cook. Choose Sand Whiting from New South Wales or King George Whiting from Victoria, Western Australia, or South Australia. 

Sand whiting is fast growing and caught using nets with a low impact on habitat and appears to have minimal impacts on threatened species. King George Whiting is mostly caught by line or haul net fishing with a very low impact on the surrounding environment.

Mussel and oyster farmers have done it tough with persistent flooding throughout farming areas in south-eastern Australia. A plate of shellfish is a highly sustainable choice and will help these communities get through this latest climate-driven crisis.

Farmed on WA’s south coast, Leeuwin Coast Akoya Oysters have hit the market for the first time this year. It’s not every day an entirely new and highly sustainable Australian-produced seafood option comes along so we think that’s worth celebrating.

As a consumer-driven group, GoodFish is dedicated to providing a sustainable choice for everyone and will be focussing on adding new, local, affordable and underutilised seafood options to the guide over the coming year.

And finally, try to “Give Flake a Break.” Flake has been a traditionally popular choice for our fish and chips, but only one in three Australians know that flake is shark meat.

Flake is supposed to be gummy shark but it could be any shark – even endangered shark – because fisheries are allowed to take several endangered species from Australian waters and there are no requirements to identify the species of shark being sold.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society operated a GoodFish & Chip truck at Bondi Beach in December to gauge the public’s reaction when they find out they could be ordering endangered shark. Check out their reactions in the video here.

You can download the GoodFish App from the website. It is designed to help you make informed seafood choices and play a part in swelling the tide for sustainable seafood in Australia.

Source: Australian Marine Conservation Society