L to R: Sam Colvin (Austral), Anita Lee (on screen – MSC), Matt Watson (MSC), Dylan Skinns (Austral), Mathew Wilkinson (student) and Chisom Chima (David – also a student). Dylan is pictured holding the framed award certificate for Austral’s Glacier 51 Toothfish winning ‘Best Sustainable Seafood Product’ in the 2021 MSC Awards.
We were pleased to welcome the Marine Stewarship Council’s Matt Watson and Anita Lee (who due to COVID precautions unfortunately had to dial in virtually from Sydney) to our Perth office for a catch up.
Anita is the MSC’s Senior Commercial Outreach Manager, Oceania and Matt is a Senior Fisheries Manager. Both bring clear passion and enthusiasm to their roles and together they took Austral through an hour-long presentation.
The presentation provided an update on the latest in the MSC’s work, encompassing aspects of science, research, analytics, marketing and what’s in store for the next 6 – 12 months.
Austral has been an early supporter and adopter of the MSC – dating back to the late 1990s and solidfying when Austral took their Skull island Tiger Prawns and Glacier 51 Toothfish brands MSC certified in 2012 and 13′.
The MSC’s mission is intrinsically linked with what Austral values as stakeholders of the fishing industry.
From the MSC:
“We believe we should have fish forever, so we use science to end overfishing. As scientists who care about people and the planet, we maintain the world-leading MSC Fisheries Standard for sustainable fishing. To be certified, fisheries must demonstrate that they are:
- Maintaining healthy populations of fish;
- Minimising impact on the marine environment;
- Fish in an area with effective, responsive, and responsible management.
Seafood should also be traceable within the supply chain. This is important because seafood fraud threatens livelihoods, adds to the overfishing problem and can be bad for your health. Thousands of our partners use five simple steps to eradicate seafood fraud by using the MSC Chain of Custody Standard.”
We’d like to thank Matt, Anita and the MSC for their ongoing work to end overfishing and ensure fisheries around the world continue to improve their sustainability efforts.