Quantifying the accessibility of sustainable seafood in south-eastern Queensland, Australia

Tia Vella; Leslie Roberson; Caitie Kuempel; Carissa Klein

doi:10.1071/MF23054

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Contents Vol 74(15)

Quantifying the accessibility of sustainable seafood in south-eastern Queensland, Australia

Tia Vella

^A ^* , Leslie Roberson ^A , Caitie Kuempel ^B and Carissa Klein ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of The Environment, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Qld, Australia.

^B School of Environment and Science – Environment and Marine, Griffith University, Nathan, Qld, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: tia.vella@uq.net.au

Handling Editor: Max Finlayson

Marine and Freshwater Research 74(15) 1340-1354 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF23054
Submitted: 14 March 2023 Accepted: 13 September 2023 Published: 4 October 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Seafood is a nutritious source of protein. However, seafood production can have perverse environmental impacts. Seafood sustainability differs depending on species, origin, and production or fishing method. Australian consumers seeking sustainable seafood rely on independent sustainability guides and detailed labels at point of sale.

Aims

We aimed to determine consumer accessibility to sustainable seafood products in south-eastern Queensland, Australia.

Methods

We assessed the sustainability of 8497 seafood products from 1050 restaurants, supermarkets, and takeaway shops.

Key results

We determined the sustainability of 31.83% of products according to Australia’s GoodFish guide. Of these, 4.25% were classified as sustainable, 3.35% as ‘Eat Less’, and 24.23% as ‘Say No’. Australian farmed barramundi was the most common sustainable product and farmed Australian Atlantic salmon the most common ‘Say No’ product. We could not assess 68.17% of products because of a lack of information (26.73%) or the product was not included in the GoodFish guide (41.44%).

Conclusions

Inadequate labelling of species, origin, or production or fishing method reduces the accessibility of sustainable seafood in south-eastrn Queensland, Australia.

Implications

Improving labelling, especially origin information at point of sale is critical for changing consumer behaviour, which represents a significant hurdle to improving the sustainability of the seafood industry.

Keywords: Australia, consumers, ecolabels, labelling, seafood, seafood guides, seafood origin, traceability.

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