Original story by Carol Raabus and Ryk Goddard, ABC
Do you check sustainable fishing guides before heading to the fish mongers? Prof Colin Buxton says you shouldn't bother.
Prof Buxton is the Director of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Coasts Centre at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and he says all fresh fish for sale in Australia is sustainable and people shouldn't worry about fish guides or cards.
What fish is the most environmentally friendly to eat? Photo: ABC Rural
"I'd throw the card away if I were you, I'd just go and look for the freshest fish in your fish shop because it's all sustainably produced," he says.
Prof Buxton says there is more than can be done in the aquaculture industry to manage sustainability of species and meet the challenges of climate change, but overall he says people shouldn't worry about the fresh fish in Australian markets.
"I honestly don't believe what is written on most of those cards.
"That's an anti-fishing agenda that produces those cards, and that's a pretty bold statement from me, but I wouldn't trust a lot of what you read on those cards.
"It generalised to the point that it's almost ridiculous.
"Take salmon for example, a lot of the criticisms against the salmon aquaculture industry in Tasmania is based on what is going on in the northern hemisphere, it's completely and utterly irrelevant and those are the sort of emotive arguments that drive the choices on those cards."
Bec Hubbard from Environment Tasmania says Prof Buxton should apologise to the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) which produces the sustainable seafood guide for the statements he made.
"I'm quite surprised by Colin's statement," says Ms Hubbard.
"If he'd done his research, he would know that for that particular reference that he used for farmed Atlantic salmon, there's I think six or seven references ... and one of them references impacts of fishing overseas and five are from Australia."
The seafood guide lists fish species in an orange, red or green column, indicating the sustainability of the species' fisheries.
The green list is for species deemed sustainable, orange is for 'think twice' species where the fisheries are deemed to be on the edge of overfished or environmentally damaging and the red listed species are a no-go and deemed overfished or causing significant environmental damage from fish farms.
"It's very clearly not an anti fishing guide, it actually provides a whole range of fish that it suggests people buy," says Ms Hubbard.
An independent marine scientist is contracted by AMCS to assess the reports and assessments produced by government agencies and the fisheries themselves.
"If the government and the scientists are saying it's overfished, don't you believe that?"
Ms Hubbard says the sustainable seafood guide is a shortcut to getting the information on the status of fish and seafood species eaten in Australia and that it's good thing for people to what to know where their seafood is from and whether it's sustainable or not.
Interviews with Prof Colin Buxton and Bec Hubbard featured on Breakfast with Ryk Goddard.
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