Pete Evans-extract from 'Fish'

There are some 4,000 known marine species living in the waters of our planet & interestingly, about 3,500 of them can be found in Australia's oceans, rivers & lakes. Our fishing grounds are the world's second largest by area & range across all five oceanic zones from tropical to arctic.

Australians are now eating almost 18kg of seafood per person per annum (well below the 142kg of red meat & poultry we each consume annually), it is a dramatic increase from the 8.5kg we ate only 10 years ago.

Australia is a nett importer of seafood. We import nearly 80% of the seafood we consume. Our exports are predominately of high-value species (rock lobster, abalone, prawns & tuna), while we import the generally lower-value skinless, boneless fish, calamari, octopus & farmed prawns.
The good news is that we have some of the most advanced commercial fisheries in the world.
Australia 's vast fishing grounds and limited resources demand that we take good care of our fisheries. The result is highly managed organisations that pretty much guarantee the quality and sustainability of Australian Seafood. In fact, we have some of the most sustainable fisheries in the world: companies such as Spencer Gulf King Prawn and Southern Rock Lobster are not only standout examples of sustainable wild-catch fisheries, they are actually among the world's best.

So, Australian seafood ranks among the best in the world both ecologically and culinary. Of course, it might sometimes be a bit more expensive than the imported frozen stuff sitting in the supermarket freezer, but let's remember that it's special and worth that little bit more.

Aquaculture

According to the American seafood sustainability organisation, Chefs' Collaborative, in the next twenty years aquaculture will surpass capture fisheries in supplying the majority of the world's seafood. Aquaculture, or fish farming, is becoming more commonplace as a solution to problematic fish depletion. Today over 20 per cent of our seafood and, in particular, half of the world's salmon supply is farmed. Fish farming has an ecological impact all of its own, depending on the type of fish being farmed, how they are raised and where the farms are located.

  Farmed fish such as salmon are raised in what's known as a net-pen. Envision cattle in a crowded feedlot: replace the cattle with salmon then throw in some water. This equates to thousands upon thousands of fish thrown into an area of thirty cubic metres. Clearly, the issues relating to fish farming are not dissimilar to those faced by an intensive agriculture.

  It is a tough decision to be proactive about seafood sustainability- how do you balance commercial, culinary and family needs, while maintaining this ecological balance?

  If you decide that you are committed to sustainability you should become proactive: start paying attention to where, how and when your seafood was sourced by your supplier. The Australian Marine Conservation Society is a defender of consumers' right to know and supports reader-friendly labelling on menus, in fish shops and at wholesale markets, as well as general education for the public. Sustainability is a problem for every one of us. Let's look after the oceans for our children, and their children.