Fishy Imports: What’s on your plate?
The Fair Catch Alliance, led by Minderoo, held its sector launch event on March 16th. The event was hosted by food critic and television host Melissa Leong and brought together industry, seafood experts and conservationists to discuss improving rules at the border for imported seafood.
The interactive online event took a dive into the potential problems with imported seafood. Most of the seafood we eat in Australia is imported and there are known problems with sustainability and ethical standards in many of the countries we import from. There are currently no rules at the border that prevent illegal or unethical fishing products from entering Australia’s market. There are no traceability requirements to verify product information from when seafood is sourced along the supply chain. Our weak import rules mean consumers often cannot be certain the seafood they are eating is exactly what they ordered.
If we cannot trace where our seafood comes from, it exacerbates the risk consumers are being served substandard or illegally sourced seafood. It’s just not fair catch.
The Fair Catch Alliance is made up of a diverse coalition of voices, from industry to the conservation groups, who are determined to lift the standards of imported seafood.
We are campaigning for Australia to have the same rules for all seafood. The government needs to take responsibility for the food they let into the country. It should stop seafood if we can’t be sure what it is and where it is from.
Find out more about the alliance and its goals here.
Watch the full recording of the Fair Catch Launch event below: