MSC honours leaders in Australian seafood

In the past year, Australian shoppers spent nearly AUS$400 million on over 365 MSC-certified products, with the volume of certified seafood sold tripling in the past decade and double-digit growth in sales in the past five years.

“The vast majority of Australian seafood consumers believe that to save the ocean, we must only consume seafood from sustainable sources and that environmental claims must be clearly labelled by an independent organisation,” said MSC program director for Oceania and Singapore, Anne Gabriel.

Honoured at the awards were Coles, Woolworths, Walker Seafoods Australia, Bidfood, Sydney Zoo and Austral Fisheries.

Coles won the MSC Best Sustainable Seafood Supermarket for its commitment to MSC-certified products, particularly its sustainable tuna. Coles’ Simply Tuna also secured the MSC Best Sustainable Seafood Product award, praised for its impact on sustainable tuna fishing policies.

Heidi Walker of Walkers Seafoods Australia received the MSC Sustainable Fishing Hero award for her leadership in tuna fishing sustainability. In a public vote, Austral Fisheries’ Skull Island Tiger Prawns earned the MSC Best Sustainable Seafood Brand award.

Brett Patience of Bidfood was honoured with the MSC Lifetime Achievement Award, and Woolworths and Sydney Zoo were recognised with MSC Community Champion awards for their contributions to ocean sustainability.

The awards are run annually by the Marine Stewardship Council in partnership with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council.