Feel-good fish

But before you order that line-caught whiting from that fashionably eco-aware restaurant, buy that can of dolphin-friendly tuna, or whip out your controversial sustainable seafood guide, can you tell me what the term "sustainable seafood" means?

It's possible that never before in the history of Australian marketing has a term of such indeterminate meaning made so many waves. Seafood sustainability is big business, and it's getting bigger. As the recent federal government decision on the marine park - locking up 2.3 million square kilometres of ocean around Australia for the sustainability cause - and the ban on the supertrawler Abel Tasman shows, Australians are increasingly receptive to messages about ocean health and fishery management. Yet start asking around - chefs, the fishing industry, conservation groups, research agencies - and it seems there are as many definitions of sustainability as there are fish in the sea.

Austral Fisheries general manager Andy Prendergast displays some of his catch, which has been approved by the Marine Stewardship Council.
Picture: Stewart McLean Source: The Australian

In times of confusion, you need heroes. On the one hand, the media's favourite green seafood group, the Australian Marine Conservation Society - criticised by the fishing industry and others for alleged lack of rigour in the production of its sustainable seafood guide - has writer Tim Winton and chef Kylie Kwong as its champions. On the other, the international Marine Stewardship Council's newest local heroes are ... a prawn and a toothfish.

Last month, Australia's largest prawn fishery, the Northern Prawn Fishery (at about 750,000 square kilometres, it's also the commonwealth's largest fishery) became the seventh in the nation to gain the tough eco-tick from the MSC, after a 15-month certification process part-funded by Woolworths and the WWF. And in August, the mighty Patagonian toothfish from Heard Island in the Antarctic, aka Glacier 51 Toothfish, swam up from its home 2.5km under the sea - about as deep as it gets - into the bright lights of MSC attention, a breakthrough for a fish long tainted in Australia by a reputation as an overfished species.

While the London-based MSC is not new here - in fact the West Australian rock lobster was the first product in the world to gain MSC certification, in 2000 - until now, most of its hero fish have proved a difficult catch for consumers: you probably won't find yelloweye mullet or pippies from the Lakes & Coorong fishery, or even that WA lobster, at your local fishmonger. Unless you're a local. On the other hand, you can buy banana and tiger prawns from the Northern Prawn Fishery (usually sold under the Austral Fisheries brand) at Woolworths and Coles, although red-tape requirements mean they won't be labelled with the blue MSC tick until sometime next year. Toothfish is a little more elusive - from February, the super-premium fish will land at restaurants such as Rockpool Bar & Grill and Flying Fish in Sydney, and Newmarket and Chin Chin in Melbourne - but at least now you won't have to fly to Japan, China or the US to enjoy it (in the US, the fish is marketed and recognised under the name Chilean sea bass).

"Certified products do attract a premium," says Austral Fisheries chief executive David Carter, explaining why the company decided to undertake the lengthy and expensive certification process for its prawns and toothfish (another toothfish, from Macquarie Island, also earned the tick earlier this year). "It's about trust. Surveys have shown that people trust NGOs like the MSC."

In September, the West Australian government showed its faith in that trust, partnering with the state's Fishing Industry Council to invest $14.5m in the MSC scheme. Over the next four years, all 46 fisheries in WA will undergo pre-assessment for certification.

Not everyone is such a fan of certification. Some, like Sydney seafood marketer John Susman, question its necessity. We are, he points out, a 75 per cent net importer of seafood, much of it from countries with far weaker fisheries management than our own.

"We are a First World country with some of the most robust (fishing) regulations in the world," he says, citing the 1999 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. "Is there really a need for costly third-party validation?"

The main driver of certification, he believes, is the lack of a united voice from the fishing industry. "Not even the industry has an accepted, nationwide definition of sustainability," he says. "So instead we have rockstar chefs and others stepping into the vacuum to tell us what sustainable means when most of them don't have a clue. They're talking about 'feed conversion ratios' (a reference to aquaculture) at the same time as they're selling wagyu, champagne and Italian mineral water and driving Range Rovers. Give me a break.

"If you compare Australian fish to wagyu or battery pig, fish really doesn't look too bad."

Susman reflects widely held concern about the impact of misinformation on people's buying habits. "People are growing scared of seafood," he says. "They're scared of having rocks thrown at them if they eat tuna. The east coast tuna and billfish fishery is one of the best-managed fisheries in the world."

Among chefs who can claim exception to the ignorance rule is Sydney restaurant Red Lantern's Mark Jensen, known for his work in questioning the environmental credentials of whatever he puts on his menu. Currently, that includes MSC scallops from Canada and MSC prawns from Spencer Gulf.

"It's good that there's a variety of certification organisations around," says Jensen, who's also written a book, Urban Cook: Cooking and Eating for a Sustainable Future. "I don't favour any one in particular because they can tend to make blanket statements, so I prefer to ask my own questions about the supply chain."

Perhaps the widespread confusion on the subject is the reason people's good intentions on seafood don't always make it as far as the checkout. Patrick Hone, executive director of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, quotes data from the Australian Seafood Co-operative Research Centre showing that while the majority of consumers show a willingness to pay more for sustainable seafood, only about 5 per cent actually do.

"There's no doubt the intent is growing," he says. "People want to make sustainable choices, but price is an important factor in their eventual decision."

Like many in the industry, Susman suggests that if you're a seafood shopper with a conscience, your best bet is to buy Australian.

"We are world's best practice. So let's buy local and get on with it," he says. "And if you want to feed the kids a $9 prawn laksa, then you need to recognise those prawns are coming from a Third World country, with all the question marks over sustainability that implies."

Which leads us back to the beginning. What do you mean by sustainable? Here are three definitions - choose the one you like best. Of course, there's a qualifier: each is intended to apply primarily to wild-catch fish, rather than farmed. And that's another story.

"Fisheries are ecologically sustainable when stocks of both target and non-target species are not overfished ... and when the health, natural balance and productivity of marine ecosystems, populations of threatened, endangered or protected species and marine habitats are maintained. A truly sustainable fishery meets the long-term needs of fishermen, consumers and the environment together." - Tooni Mahto, Australian Marine Conservation Society.

"Seafood sustainability is not just about saving dolphins - as important as that is. It's also about commercial, cultural and ethical sustainability." - John Susman, marketer.

"It's the use of best-practice science and management to deliver reliable fisheries production forever." - Dave Carter, Austral Fisheries.

WHERE TO BUY MSC SEAFOOD:
Northern Prawn Fishery banana prawns are available at Woolworths and Coles. NPF tiger prawns will be available through Christmas at selected Woolworths stores.
Glacier 51 toothfish is available in Western Australia at Seafresh, Innaloo and Myaree; Universal Seafoods, Canning Vale; and the Canning Vale Fish Market; in Melbourne, at Jetty Fresh Seafoods, Preston Market and South Melbourne Seafood, South Melbourne Market.

Source: The Australian, 4 December 2012