Commercial fishing company, Austral Fisheries has attained carbon neutral certification, the first seafood business in the world to do so.
Becoming carbon neutral is a result of independent audits of the company’s operations to determine its carbon footprint, and then buying carbon offsets to plant trees – around 190,000 - to counteract the company’s estimated emissions of 27,422 tonnes in 2016.
David Carter, Austral’s chief executive, said: “We’re excited to be able to launch our new brand – CN Fish – which to us is an inevitable ‘next step’ to ensure sustainable seafood for our customers, and demonstrates our determination to remain at the forefront of sustainability.
“Austral operates in many fisheries independently certified as sustainable and well managed, by groups such as the Marine Stewardship Council. We now add to that our Carbon Neutral status.
“We identified a need to reduce and offset our carbon emissions to help ensure the health of our oceans, which is fundamental to our business,” he added.
Chief executive of the MSC, Rupert Howes, said: “Climate change is the biggest single sustainability challenge humanity faces. I congratulate Austral Fisheries for their bold and innovative initiative to become the first fishing company in the world to quantify, publish and then offset their total operational carbon emissions. This is a world first for the sector and I very much hope that other seafood businesses will follow Austral’s lead."
Fittingly, the announcement came on Sustainable Seafood Day Australia 2016. Dr James Findlay, chief executive of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, congratulated Austral.
“Wild caught seafood has a low environmental impact when compared to other sources of animal protein source and Austral has just made it even less,” he said.
“It is fitting that Austral Fisheries has been recognised for its achievement on Sustainable Seafood Day and I congratulate the company,” added Dr Findlay.
