A government report published by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) on 18 January 2012, has revealed that, despite being surrounding by tropical and temperate seas, Australia imports 72 per cent of its seafood. Australia produced a mere 241,000 tonnes of fish hauled over the 2009-10 year. This compares with Papua New Guinea producing a million tonnes of fish last year. The report, commissioned by the Australian Government’s Fisheries Research &... ...Read more »

Almost one-third of adults over the age of 25 have a Vitamin D deficiency, a new study from the University of Melbourne has found. The study involved 11,218 Australians. The overall prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 31 per cent, with Australian women being more commonly affected (39 per cent, in contrast with 23 per cent in Australian men, overall). University of Melbourne’s Professor of Medicine, and study author, Professor Peter Ebeling say the findings show that government-supported... ...Read more »

ABC news service has reported that Western Australian grown oysters “will be off the menu this Christmas due to a harmful bacteria”. WA’s only aquaculture oyster producer is Ocean Foods International in Albany. According to its Farm Director Gareth James, the shellfish have ingested the E Coli bacteria, which has washed into waterways due to recent heavy rainfall, and are therefore not fit to eat for this Christmas. Mr James said a closure at this time of year is out of the ordinary but  it... ...Read more »

Restaurants will soon use cutting edge DNA ‘barcoding’ technology to assure customers they are eating exactly what they ordered, rather than inferior substitutes, according to a leading U.S. scientist. Secretary of the Washington-based Consortium for the Barcode of Life, Dr David Schindel, believes the DNA ‘barcoding’ has potential applications for food companies and retailers. The Consortium for the Barcode of Life is an international consortium of scientists aiming to compile a comprehensive... ...Read more »

Seafood is potentially likely to become a luxury that many Australians cannot afford, according to principal research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) Dr Mike Hall. According to a statement attributed to Dr Hall in the Weekend Australian this week, Australia will face a seafood supply shortage in twenty years if overseas demand for seafood continues to grow. Currently, Australians consume about 422,000 metric tonnes of seafood each year according to Dr Hall, but more... ...Read more »

Ongoing concerns about the safety of eating fish caught in Gladstone Harbour, central Queensland, have led the owners of the city’s largest fish market to refuse fish caught in the harbour. This is despite government agencies in Queensland suggesting that the fish pose no health risk. Last week, the Queensland Government lifted a three-week fishing ban it had previously imposed on the harbour last week. At the time, Queensland Fisheries Minister Craig Wallace claimed the results of a water quality... ...Read more »

Despite continuing concerns by local fishermen about the safety of fishing in Gladstone Harbour, central Queensland, a three-week fishing ban previously imposed on the harbour by the Queensland Government was lifted today. The ban had been originally imposed after locally-caught fish showed signs of illness. At the same time, local fishermen were also reported unwell after handling these fish. Queensland Fisheries Minister Craig Wallace claimed today the results of a water quality analysis and fish... ...Read more »

Frozen seafood supplier Pacific West has introduced a new sustainable tempura hake product for the Australian foodservice sector, certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The product will be sold under the new Sustainable Harvest brand, and bear the MSC ecolabel. Pacific West is sourcing the fish for its tempura range from the MSC certified hake fishery in South Africa. “Tempura fish is one of the flagship products for Pacific West, and is well known among food service organisations,”... ...Read more »

Key members of the Australian seafood industry and environmental NGOs have come together at the Seafood Services Australia Network Meeting, held at Sydney Fish Market last week, to discuss the need for clearer definitions and terminology, and increased community engagement on sustainability. “The issue we face is that there are many varied definitions and complex terminology relating to sustainability. There are also many eco-labels for seafood around the world – each with different criteria.... ...Read more »

On land, being small and lurking at the bottom of the food chain is usually a far better strategy for species survival than being big, fierce and perched on top, at least when humans are after you. But talk to sharks and anchovies and they’ll tell you a different story, according to a new study of fisheries collapses led by Stanford researchers. Analyzing over 200 scientific assessments of fisheries around the globe, the team found that populations of small fish such as sardines and anchovies... ...Read more »