Easter is Australia’s second-favourite time to eat seafood only surpassed by Christmas, and the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s GoodFish guide, now in its 20th year, makes it easier than ever to choose seafood caught or farmed with a light touch on our oceans. AMCS Sustainable Seafood Program Manager Adrian Meder said: “Too many of Australia’s fisheries are in strife, with the highest number of overfished stocks in the Commonwealth-managed fisheries in more than a decade, caused by mismanagement and climate change. As our waters warm and habitats degrade, many species are struggling t ..read more

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: The post Protected: FSH-19 ACT Fair Catch Draft paper FSH – Website appeared first on Australian Marine Conservation Society ..read more

Turning the Tide Newsletter – Summer 2024 Endemic Sharks Report Many of Australia’s endemic sharks and rays are facing extinction with population declines of up to 90%, because of fishing pressures. These species are as unique as the koala and in just as much trouble. Australia’s largest fishery, the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF), is driving 10 of Australia’s 13 threatened endemic species to extinction – the whitefin swellshark, longnose skate, greeneye spurdog, eastern angelshark, grey skate, coastal stingaree, yellowback stingaree, greenback stingaree, Melbourne sk ..read more

About 20% of globally traded seafood comes from Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing. Australia imports about 65% of our seafood – we could be eating illegal products and financing modern slavery We need import rules for traceability, sustainability and ethics The Australian Marine Conservation Society is pleased that the federal government is addressing the importation of seafood from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fisheries, with the release of the draft white paper into preventing IUU imports. AMCS Fair Catch Campaign Manager Dr Cat Dorey said: “Australia imports nearly ..read more

Take of endangered species such as school shark and orange roughy increased beyond sustainable levels Australia has recorded the highest numbers of stocks subject to overfishing in more than a decade. The recovery of Australia’s Commonwealth-managed fisheries since the $200 million taxpayer bailout in 2006 has stalled with overfishing again on the rise, said the Australian Marine Conservation Society after the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) released its annual assessment of Commonwealth fish stocks yesterday. The Australian Government paid $2 ..read more

Take of endangered species such as school shark and orange roughy increased beyond sustainable levels Australia has recorded the highest numbers of stocks subject to overfishing in more than a decade. The recovery of Australia’s Commonwealth-managed fisheries since the $200 million taxpayer bailout in 2006 has stalled with overfishing again on the rise, said the Australian Marine Conservation Society after the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) released its annual assessment of Commonwealth fish stocks yesterday. The Australian Government paid $2 ..read more

Knowing what you’re eating and the impact you have should be your right. The Australian government will soon be implementing ‘Country of Origin Labelling’ to seafood in hospitality venues, in order to ‘help people understand where their seafood is from’. Unfortunately their proposed changes will not help them achieve this goal. Seafood labelling must be robust in order for Aussies to feel confident in what they are eating. No matter whether it is retail or hospitality, labelling must include: the species, where and how it was caught or farmed, and who by. The post FSH-18 PTN Fair Catch CoOL pt ..read more

Our Great Barrier Reef should be a refuge for our threatened marine wildlife. It is home to globally significant populations of dugongs, turtles, dolphins and sawfish. But commercial gillnets catch these iconic species in their thousands. Gillnets are indiscriminate killers, easily entangling species like dugongs and turtles where they can quickly drown. If every fisher had their nets in the water, they would stretch more than 159km, that’s further than from Brisbane to Noosa. Late last year, UNESCO and IUCN, scientific advisors to the World Heritage Centre, made 22 recommendations to add ..read more

Australia’s major source of locally caught fish for eastern seafood markets, the Commonwealth-government managed Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF), has fallen into crisis. No other Australian fishery has pushed more once-targeted species to the point where they are now on our threatened and endangered species lists. A deeply troublesome loophole creates a special category of ‘conservation dependent’ listing that allows otherwise threatened or endangered fish like school shark, eastern gemfish, orange roughy and blue warehou to be caught and sold for profit by the SESSF a ..read more

Our current weak seafood labelling laws make it challenging to choose ethical and sustainable seafood. The Australian government has just released their proposed changes to Country of Origin Labelling for seafood in hospitality, and are looking for input. The proposed changes are inadequate and do not provide enough information.  In order for Aussies to have confidence in what they are eating, labelling of all seafood must describe: The species of seafood on offer, Where and how it was caught, and Who caught it.  This proposal is our first opportunity to step in and demand stronger ..read more