Seafood imported from countries in our region such as China and Thailand may have been caught illegally - but Australian consumers will never really know.
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Billionaire businessman Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest's Minderoo Foundation is calling for tougher import controls as the Department of Fisheries began its public consultation on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices.
The consultation follows on from a fisheries discussion paper which outlined the issues and the efforts taken so far to keep illegally sourced seafood off Australian plates.
The crux of the problem is so-called illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices which are problematic throughout the Asian region, yet disguised or hidden from view.
In its 2021 report to the US Congress, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - a stewardship operation funded by the US Department of Commerce - identified 31 nations and entities with vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing activities or bycatch of protected species on the high seas.
Among the countries "named and shamed" in the report in the Asian region were China and Taiwan.
It found "nations and entities that engage in IUU fishing circumvent conservation and management measures, avoid the operational costs associated with sustainable fishing practices, and may benefit financially from exceeding harvesting limits".
"These activities undermine global efforts to sustainably manage shared fish stock," it said.
Around 65 per cent of Australia's seafood - valued at over $2 billion annually - is imported from over 90 different countries. While the industry strongly self-regulates, if the imported product is falsely identified when handled at a wholesale level, only expensive DNA testing would reveal what it really is.
The Minderoo Foundation produced a 2021 report called "Mending The Net" which identified a number of critical issues, most notably the lack of data on imported seafood: the import chain traceability which takes it from the net to the plate.
"This [data issue] represents a significant gap in Australia's efforts to combat IUU fishing - and exposes retailers and consumers to illegal and unsustainable seafood," the report found.
"the Australian government urgently needs to develop a targeted national program that provides 'catch-to-plate' traceability, ensures the legality of imported seafood and provides sufficient labelling to enable consumer choice.
"Three countries - Thailand, China and Vietnam, all of which have documented instances of poor fisheries governance and labour practices - account for over half of [Australia's] imports by value."
The European Union has had a catch certification scheme in operation since 2008.
In 2016, the United States (US) introduced the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, a permit-based system that requires catch documentation for 13 types of seafood identified as vulnerable to IUU fishing and/or seafood fraud.
Importers of seafood into the US are Importers are required to keep records regarding the "chain of custody" of the fish or fish product from catch to point of entry into US.
The first major reforms to Australian seafood labelling laws come into effect in 2018, and the chief executive of Seafood Industry Australia Veronica Papacosta said that country of origin is one of the most influential factors for a consumer choosing which seafood to buy.
Salmonids, which include salmon, trout and other fish species, are subject to biosecurity laws in Australia; they must be an approved species, caught from a population with a documented surveillance program, and can only be sourced and processed by "approved" countries.
There are also other regulatory devices such as the Imported Food Control Act, fair trade agreements and the Customs Act under which all fish, including fresh, smoked, preserved and frozen products, requires a permit. Customs declarations are required for all products over $1000 in value, and which captures the product's country of origin and country of export.
However, the Minderoo Foundation says there is no formal process to verify that information.
Regulatory loopholes are exploited by unscrupulous importers because while the Act requires the name of the cargo vessel in which the seafood arrives, there is no traceability on the vessel which caught the seafood, how it was landed, or whether it was trans-shipped and/or re-exported on its way to Australia.
The public consultation ends in August, with a draft report on new measures due out early next year.
