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Australians buy more canned fish than fresh seafood, consumer data shows
16 Oct 2016
Seventy-five per cent of Australian shoppers consider sustainably sourced seafood a top priority.
Coles and IKEA have full MSC-certification and traceability in place for their fresh and packaged seafood, while Woolworths, IGA and ALDI all sell MSC-certified frozen and canned seafood.
Coles said it had seen an "increase in demand for responsibly sourced seafood over the last year", with the most popular varieties being banana prawns, tiger prawns and salmon.
Ms Gabriel said the MSC would like to see a more diverse range of certified seafood on the Australian market, as well as better awareness of the MSC label among shoppers.
"The research showed 24 per cent of Australians had seen the label ... so our focus now is building that awareness."
Last year Queensland-based tuna company Walker Seafoods Australia was awarded MSC-certification after "years of work and around $300,000".
Managing director Heidi Walker said supplying to restaurants and wholesalers around Australia had revealed that sustainable seafood was in demand.
"Our fishery was always sustainable, but by having the certification we are now selling to America, Switzerland ... countries that will only sell MSC seafood in their supermarkets," she said.
"We are getting a premium of 15-20 per cent on our MSC-certified fish."
Ms Walker said she was not surprised that packaged fish products were more frequently purchased by Australians.
"It always comes down to price ... when it's fresh, it has to be air freighted around the country. You put something in a tin, of course the cost of that can't compare to fresh fish," she said.
"I think in Australia fresh seafood will always be a premium price."
There are currently 286 fisheries in 36 countries that are MSC-certified, all of which have a combined annual seafood production of around nine million metric tonnes, or 10 per cent of annual global yields.
More than 20,000 seafood products worldwide carry the blue MSC label.
At German discount giant ALDI, MSC-certification has been applied to all frozen and packaged seafood since 2009.
An ALDI Australia spokesperson said its practices allowed it to independently verify if a fish species was sustainable "by measuring maximum sustainable yield, catch method, fishery management practices and percentage of by-catch".
Earlier this year, the MSC reported that 30 per cent of the world's seafood was still mislabelled Seventy-five per cent of Australian shoppers consider sustainably sourced seafood a top priority.
Coles and IKEA have full MSC-certification and traceability in place for their fresh and packaged seafood, while Woolworths, IGA and ALDI all sell MSC-certified frozen and canned seafood.
Coles said it had seen an "increase in demand for responsibly sourced seafood over the last year", with the most popular varieties being banana prawns, tiger prawns and salmon.
Ms Gabriel said the MSC would like to see a more diverse range of certified seafood on the Australian market, as well as better awareness of the MSC label among shoppers.
"The research showed 24 per cent of Australians had seen the label ... so our focus now is building that awareness."
Last year Queensland-based tuna company Walker Seafoods Australia was awarded MSC-certification after "years of work and around $300,000".
Managing director Heidi Walker said supplying to restaurants and wholesalers around Australia had revealed that sustainable seafood was in demand.
"Our fishery was always sustainable, but by having the certification we are now selling to America, Switzerland ... countries that will only sell MSC seafood in their supermarkets," she said.
"We are getting a premium of 15-20 per cent on our MSC-certified fish."
Ms Walker said she was not surprised that packaged fish products were more frequently purchased by Australians.
"It always comes down to price ... when it's fresh, it has to be air freighted around the country. You put something in a tin, of course the cost of that can't compare to fresh fish," she said.
"I think in Australia fresh seafood will always be a premium price."
There are currently 286 fisheries in 36 countries that are MSC-certified, all of which have a combined annual seafood production of around nine million metric tonnes, or 10 per cent of annual global yields.
More than 20,000 seafood products worldwide carry the blue MSC label.
At German discount giant ALDI, MSC-certification has been applied to all frozen and packaged seafood since 2009.
Source:
The Courier
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