In a week of good news for Australia’s seafood industry, progress continues to be made to keep commercial fisheries well-managed and sustainable.
The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) has just invested $855,000 into a partnership of seafood experts assisting the industry to maintain market access.
The new investment in SafeFish helps to provide safe seafood for Australian consumers by maintaining and enhancing market access by providing advice to help resolve technical trade impediments, especially in relation to food safety and hygiene.
This collaborative approach between industry, government and researchers is said to be critical for the future growth of the Australian seafood industry.
The FRDC is a co-funded partnership between two stakeholders, the Australian Government and the fishing and aquaculture sectors.
Further good news for the Australian seafood industry was announced this week with the latest Fishery status reports by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) showing strong Commonwealth fisheries management.
Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator Richard Colbeck, calls this good news the result of careful, science-based fisheries management and co-operation between the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and the commercial fishing industry.
“The southern bluefin tuna, a species of significant economic importance to Australia, is now classified as not subject to overfishing for the first time,” Senator Colbeck says.
“For the fifth year in a row, the reports show that no solely Australian government managed fish stock has been classified as subject to overfishing.”
It’s not all good news but the Senator Colbeck says Australia is moving in the right direction.
“Since the Harvest Strategy Policy was introduced in 2007, a rising number of fish stocks have been classified as not overfished and not subject to overfishing, and fewer stocks are now classified as uncertain. However, there are stocks in both solely and jointly managed fisheries that remain overfished,” he says.
Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) is the national peak body representing Australian seafood, and SIA CEO Jane Lovell calls the ABARES fishery status report great news.
“Australia’s professional fishers care about the marine environment and we understand the need to protect and ensure the long-term sustainability of fish stocks. Today’s ABARES release echos just that,” Lovell says.
The reports also found that fisheries managed both jointly and solely by the Australian Government generated a gross value of production (GVP) of $403 million in 2016–17, representing 23 per cent of Australia’s total wild capture fisheries GVP of $1.75 billion.
