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April Meat Market Report

Trawling, line-catching, netting, trapping, farming – with thousands of species of seafood sold in Australia at Easter and many ways they can be caught, it can be difficult to feel confident that what ends up on your plate has been sustainably produced.

But sustainable seafood exists, and is sold in supermarket freezers and counters as well as specialist fishmongers across the country. Making sure that what you are eating hasn’t come at great cost to the environment involves asking questions, learning to love specific species of seafood and checking what you know against guides and systems set up by organisations that have done the research.

The recent floods on the east coast have affected supply at Sydney Fish Market and other markets and fish counters across the country, says resident tour guide Alex Stollznow. Sydney rock oysters and other highly sustainable local “filter feeders” are likely off the menu, given the poor water quality resulting from the rains, he says. But there are other options.

“We’ve got thousands of commercial species in Australia, and maybe a dozen are famous,” Stollznow says. Choosing seafood that is less popular is not only often cheaper, he suggests, but can also be more sustainable by creating a market for by-catch that might otherwise be too under-valued for operators to sell.

Buy as local as you can, Stollznow says. He has faith in the Australian regulatory system, which is among the most stringent in the world. “If you’re in NSW, try to buy NSW [seafood], it’s lower food miles. As long as it’s Australian seafood, you can rest assured it’s been protected by Australian fishery scientists and strict and thorough management policies that change all the time.”

Sea urchin, highly-prized and expensive abroad, is considered a pest species in Australia and – if you can find it – is cheap, sustainable and best eaten ever-so-lightly pickled.

Specialist fishmongers will tend to know a lot about what they’re selling, but Duncan Leadbitter says consumers can ask the same sorts of questions about provenance and sustainability at their supermarket fish counters.

“Traceability is really important,” says Leadbitter, of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). “You’d want to make sure they’re keeping an eye on their supply chains,” as well as ensuring that, at minimum, the fish being sold has been legally caught.

The ASC and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) accredit different seafood operators with sustainability ticks, which are displayed as a logo when sold. Leadbitter says Australian standards are generally high but some operators that import into Australia have also been certified to MSC standard and should not be dismissed out of hand.

Waste is an issue in seafood as in other parts of food consumption, he says. Make sure you eat what you buy, otherwise “you’ve impacted something for nothing”.

- Credit: The Guardian
- Original Article: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/mar/31/whats-good-now-an-expert-guide-to-sustainable-fish-for-easter