Commonwealth fisheries, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Anne Ruston is encouraging Australians to remember sustainable, local seafood when planning your Christmas menu this year. Minister Ruston said that the warmer weather is perfect for enjoying just one of the many seafood options caught in Commonwealth-managed fisheries.
“Whether it’s deepwater flathead on the BBQ for Christmas Day, or blue grenadier and chips at the beach before the Boxing Day test, or something lighter like grilled silver trevally with a salad, there has never been a better time to enjoy fresh, healthy Australian seafood.” Minister Ruston commented “The latest ABARES Fishery status reports 2016 showed that for the third year in a row, no fish stock solely managed by the Commonwealth was subject to overfishing. This is a fantastic early Christmas present for seafood lovers and would have not have been achieved without the commitment of the Commonwealth fishing industry and the fisheries regulator, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.”
Minister Ruston explained that this is a fantastic early Christmas present for seafood lovers and would have not have been achieved without the commitment of the Commonwealth fishing industry and the fisheries regulator, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority. Not only that, but preliminary estimates from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) also showed that the gross value of production (GVP) for Commonwealth fisheries has grown by more than 25 percent in the last financial year from $350 million to $439 million – a Christmas present for all the businesses and families who work in the seafood industry.
The Minister also went on to point out that it’s not just Australians who love sustainable seafood, with the global per capita fish consumption rising to above 20 kilograms a year for the first time in 2016.