Hospitality sector welcomes seafood labelling change

AUSTRALIA’S federal, state, and territory consumer ministers have voted to introduce country of origin labelling for seafood across all hospitality businesses.

Under the new model, hospitality businesses will be required to label seafood as Australian (A), imported (I), or of mixed origin (M) when a dish includes both Australian and imported seafood.

White Fisheries in Drysdale owner Dennis White welcomed the announcement.

“It had to happen, the Northern Territory was a test case a lot of years ago and it worked wonderfully,” he said.

White, serving around 150 hospitality clients in the local area, said it was all about consumer confidence.

“It is welcome and gives the public the peace of mind of where the product comes from.”

Mr White said there was some good produce that comes from overseas, particularly New Zealand, which would be classed as imported.

“So, the labelling might encourage further descriptions by chefs at some restaurants beyond the simple I.”

Fisho’s seafood restaurant director Luke Edwards said it was long overdue.

“It’s great that the seafood industry is finally coming in line with the other food practices.

“Australia doesn’t really need to import seafood into this country, we have got enough produce here, and it’s good to support the local fishermen and the produce is really the best in the world.”

“A lot of our customers ask where our produce comes from, to have that knowledge is great for people coming in and knowing what they are eating.

“It can only be a good thing for our seafood industry, for our restaurants and also for our customers to know what they are eating.”

Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) Fair Catch Campaign Manager Dr Cat Dorey said the introduction of a new labelling approach on seafood was an important step forward but it needed to go further.

“In order to know what we are eating and its impacts on marine life and people, we need to know the species name, where and how it was caught or farmed, and by whom.”

AMCS is calling for the introduction of labelling that includes species name, fishing method, point of capture and who caught it, or farming method and country, and exporting country.