Fishing industry calls for country of origin labelling for seafood in Western Australian restaurants

The West Australian fishing industry has used a national commitment to improve country of origin labelling to renew its call for labelling in the food sector.

PHOTO: The WA fishing industry wants country of origin food labelling in the food industry. 
(Flickr: Dinner Series)

WA Fishing Industry Council chair Arno Verboon welcomed the move, but he said country of origin labelling needed to be extended to the WA food service industry.

He said with about 70 per cent of the seafood in Australia being imported, restaurants and other food retailers should inform consumers just where their seafood had been sourced from.

"If that was the law here, a restaurant would have Shark Bay prawns on the menu, or Cone Bay barramundi or Abrolhos scallops. They'd be proud to present that to their consumers," he said.

"Conversely if it was an imported product, they wouldn't be shouting about it. Make no mistake, there are some very good imported products, but the point we're making is people need to be very clear where it's from, not make assumptions." 

It's a call that's been backed by the Shark Bay Snapper Fishermen's Association.

Vice president Phil De Graw said if restaurants would label and promote local seafood it would lead to a price premium and should increase demand for locally caught food.

He said it may go some way to keeping prices paid to fishers, up during peak supply periods, like the current Shark Bay pink snapper season.

The price of pink snapper has more than halved and Mr De Graw said the current low price would barely cover some boat's costs.

"We're quite confident the consumer wants to purchase local and support the local fishing industry, but when it gets to the restaurant, they haven't got the opportunity to do so," he said.

"We just want to advertise our own product.

"We're confident in the quality, and we would hope that will increase demand a little and there might be a better return."

Source: ABC Rural, Joanna Prendergast, July 8th 2015