Five of the 11 most popular species of fish in Australia are found to be “unsustainably managed”, according to a new analysis by the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS).
The study revealed imported prawns, squid and octopus, blue grenadier, shark and snapper as seafood the public should avoid.
The AMCS sustainable seafood guide, which has been periodically updated since 2006, lists Atlantic salmon as the most popular fish among Australians, followed by imported prawns and then Australian prawns.
Three of the top five most popular fish are marked red in the AMCS traffic light system, meaning the organisation strongly recommends avoiding them.
“Overall, there have been significant improvements in farming and the industry is improving transparency due to the fact more people care about where their seafood comes from,” said Tooni Mahto, marine campaigns officer, AMCS.
“But there is still a lot of work to do. It still takes 2.5kg of wild-caught fish, to be used as fish food, to create 1kg of farmed fish. It’s also hard to tell what the long-term impact of fish farming is on the marine environment” she added.
Although the Australian government insists its fisheries are sustainable, Ms Mahto says it’s a different matter. “We’re got really significant issues in fisheries, especially with bycatch.”
Australians love shark, said Mahto, “but globally, 25% of shark and ray species are threatened by extinction so our consumption of shark meat is propping up this decline”.
Species imported from Southeast Asia also posed concerns, with prawn farming linked to pollution and destructive trawl fishing of squid and octopus blamed for damage to coral reefs.
AMCS says at-risk species needed to be identified to help industry and consumers make better choices.
“Australians need to look at their choice of seafood now, if we are to provide the next generation with the fantastic choice of fish we currently have,” added Ms Mahto.
