Organic Insights Magazine - Summer 2022

8 / Organic Insights / Summer 2022

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including the MSC, the ASC and Friend of the Sea certifications. To lift the perception of the management of Australia fisheries, both industry and Government have funded various development grants to help people transition to sustainable accreditation. In 2012, for example, the Western Australian Government partnered with the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC) for an Australian first; a $14.5Million fund for Western Australian fisheries to gain MSC certification. All in all, this is obviously a good thing, but once accredited, the time and cost of maintaining the accreditation has been increasingly onerous, and the greater evidence burdens existing in conventional industry sustainability schemes are starting to see some operators opt out. Like MSC and ASC, organic certification has been one of the long-standing sustainability certification schemes ensuring product has a chain of custody record from ‘farm’ to consumer. “I went to the Conference to quietly and objectively assess the role of organic certification in the Australian seafood industry,” says Alex. “What I found is that we have an increasingly more important role to play.” For shellfish producers, the shift to certified organic is relatively straightforward as, in most cases, there are few differences in production methods. For finfish producers, however, access to juvenile stock and organic feed can prove more limiting. In the EU, for example, where there has been notable growth in certified organic aquaculture, total production rose to 74,032 tonnes in 2020, with certified organic mussels dominating – followed by salmon, trout, carp, oyster, and seabass/seabream production. Continued growth in Australian certified organic businesses will require issues to be addressed in terms of: • Low consumer awareness of organic aquaculture. • Consumer confusion over different sustainability schemes – and competition between schemes. • Regulation and promotion in sectors.

NCO currently only certifies sedentary species (Oysters, Mussels etc) at this stage. As other fisheries and aquaculture businesses improve in their management systems, there is the possibility to extend the scope for organic certification in other species here in Australia. Several aquaculture businesses in Australia are certified by NCO, including: • Angel Oysters – Port Lincoln • Eyre Peninsula Seafoods – Port Lincoln • Pristine Oyster Farm – Cowell • SASK International Seafood – Vic • Sea Bounty / Spring Bay Foods – Vic • Tasmanian Oyster Company

Sea Bounty / Spring Bay Seafoods

Phil Lamb, Managing Director of Sea Bounty / Spring Bay Seafoods in Victoria says that “Organic certification, specifically NASAA, is a known attribute amongst educated consumers in our market.” “While there are, and continue to be, a multitude of choices for producers when it comes to certification standards; our chosen combination of NASAA Certified Organic and Friend of the Sea certification gives us the confidence that responsible production methods employed by our business are truly sustainable,” he says. “The products bearing these claims are what we would choose to purchase for our own families.”