Australian Government pilots website to boost sustainable seafood

The Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) is trialling a new website to help seafood businesses source fish responsibly and sustainably.

The FRDC’s website ‘Whichfish’ provides information to traders on wild Australian seafood, including current stock levels, and environmental and management risks.

“Whichfish will make it easier for businesses to determine which seafood to source by providing them an independent assessment of the risks associated with wild caught Australian seafood,” said FRDC managing director Patrick Hone.

On the outlook section of the website, seafood procurers can monitor risks of varying severity.

The website currently features 26 Australian species of seafood, such as the Saddletail Snapper, Eastern King Prawn and the Deepwater Flathead. The FRDC plans to add more species throughout the year.

Whichfish uses the same framework as Coles supermarket programme on Responsibly Sourced Seafood, which examines uncertified fisheries and identifies the key sustainability issues.

Other fish species with third-party certification by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and other Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) recognised bodies are registered on the website. However, the Cole’s system includes elements of the MSC Standard version 2.0, but with certain methodological differences.

“Coles recognises well-managed and responsible fishing is essential for future sustainability of our marine ecosystems, which is why since 2015 all our Coles Brand fresh, frozen, thawed and canned seafood has been responsibly sourced,” said Coles head of quality and responsible sourcing James Whittaker.

“We are delighted with the FRDC initiative, which will help continue the sustainability journey in our industry.”

As the Whichfish site is in the trial stage, the FRDC has asked seafood traders to provide feedback for the site and suggest additional species to add to the growing list.