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Your role in ending overfishing

The more people who demand truly sustainable seafood from their retailers, the more incentive and pressure there is on industrial fisheries to provide sustainably caught fish.

Ask your retailer these three questions to help protect our oceans and fisheries.
1. What is it and where was it caught? This is the minimum a supplier should be able to tell you and will help you avoid red list species.
2. How was it caught? A lot of fishing is not selective. This is specially true for bottom trawling, which is highly destructive.
3. Do you have a policy for sourcing only truly sustainable seafood? Retailers have a responsibility to be part of the solution, not the problem.
* If they cannot answer these questions, let them know you'll be buying your seafood from a retailer that can.

The red list

Use the list below to find out which fish to avoid. Available for download as a PDF [756kb].

Orange Roughy

Hoplostethus atlanticus. Illegally sold under the following names: deep-sea perch; red roughy; reef fillets; sea perch. Since 2006, the Australian government has placed Orange Roughy on our threatened species list. This deepwater trawled species lives for over 100 years and doesn't reproduce until it reaches 25-30 years, making it extremely vulnerable to overfishing.

Tuna

Thunnus obsesus: Bigeye Tuna; Thunnus albacares: Yellowfin Tuna; Thunnus maccoyli: Southern Bluefin Tuna. Each species must be identified by their unique standard name. Global tuna stocks are under threat. The Southern Bluefin is critically endangered, and Bigeye and Yellowfin Tuna are both overfished. Choose Skipjack Tuna from Australia and NZ, or from pole and line fisheries in the Pacific.

Blue Grenadier

Macruronus novaezelandiae. Illegally sold as hoki; blue hake; New Zealand hoki; New Zealand whiptail; and whiptail. Blue Grenadier fishing relies on destructive fishing techniques such as bottom trawling and mid-water trawling. Too many juvenile fish are caught, which risks the future of the industry.

Atlantic Salmon

Salmo salar. Illegally sold as salmon. Salmon stocks have plummeted. Farmed salmon threatens our native fish with disease and their food is produced from wild fish. For salmon, instead of reducing pressure on fisheries, the 4kg of fish required to produce 1kg of salmon places even greater pressure on fish stocks.

Striped Marlin

Tetrapturus audux. Stocks of striped marlin have plummeted and the current stocks are uncertain. It is both targeted and caught as bycatch in tuna longlining fisheries. The removal of a large predator like marlin affects the whole marine ecosystem.

Toothfish

Dissostichus eleginoides: Patagonian Toothfish; Dissostichusmawsoni: Antarctic Toothfish. Illegally sold as Australian sea bass; sea bass; toothfish. Patagonian and Antarctic Toothfish live to at least 40 years and reach sexual maturity at around 10 years of age. This makes them highly vulnerable to overfishing. Very high levels of pirate fishing that ignore catch limits and conservation practices compound this.

Swordfish

Xiphias gladius. Illegally sold as broadbill; broadbill swordfish; broad-billed swordfish. Swordfish stocks have declined dramatically. They are targeted by long-line fishing vessels, as well as being caught as bycatch in tuna longline fisheries. Swordfish are top predators, playing an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems.

Hake

Merlucccius australias: Southern Hake; Rexea solandri: Easterm Gemfish. Illegally sold as Hake, King Couta, Kingfish, blue whiting, cape hake, Pacific hake, South Atlantic hake. Every year, the Southern Hake fishery destroys the sea bottom with the use of bottoms trawls. There is only 1% of the pre-trawling population of Eastern Gemfish. It is on Australia's threatened species list.

Oreodory

Oreosomatidae spp; Allocyttus niger: Black Oreodory; Neocyttus Rhomboidalis: Spikey Oreodory; Psuedocyttus maculates: Smooth Oreodory. Illegally sold as oreo or dory; each species must be identified by their unique standard fish name. Caught by bottom trawling, which destroys deep-sea habitats including seamounts. All species are long-lived with some reaching more than 150 years old. So, these species are extremely vulnerable to overfishing.

Skates and rays

Illegally sold as flake; species can be sold under the grouping "skate" or "ray". Many species of rays are slow growing, late to reach sexual maturity and only give birth to a few young. These characteristics make them particularly vulnerable to overfishing. Stocks are under pressure as bycatch in many fisheries.

Prawns

Each prawn and scampi must be sold by their correct standard fish name. Prawn fishing uses bottom trawling, which is responsible for massive bycatch. For every tonne of prawn caught, up to 10 tonnes of dead or dying marine life are thrown back. Farmed prawns imported from overseas often cause mangrove destruction.

Sharks

Often sold illegally as flake: each shark species must be identified by their unique standard fish name. Many sharks are killed when they are accidentally caught as bycatch from other fisheries. Shark species are in serious trouble globally. Each year, 100 million sharks are killed, with many killed just for their fins.		  
* It is common for fish to be sold under various different names, but in fact all business and employees are required by law to use the Australian Fish names Standard which identifies a single name for each species of fish. Federal and State consumer laws make consumer deception and misleading conduct an offence. Dial 1300 130 321 to report suspected mis-naming of fish.

What you can eat

Still hungry and wondering which fish you can buy? Check out the Australian Marine Conservation Society's Sustainable Seafood Guide.