Non governmental organisations play an increasingly important role in combating unsustainable fishing. Many large environmental groups such as World Wildlife Fund Australia, Greenpeace or the United Nations Environment Programme work on sustainable fishing as part of their environmental programmes. There are also more specialised groups that are solely devoted to fighting unsustainable fishing like the Marine Stewardship Council and the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
Greenpeace
“We empower consumers to make informed, ethical and sustainable choices when buying seafood. Our ships take to the high seas to track illegal and unsustainable fishing operations in the Pacific. We participate in key regional and international forums where the fate of the world's oceans are on the table.”
Much of Greenpeace’s work on sustainable fishing involves directly combating unsustainable fishing practices. Although opinions on Greenpeace’s confrontational tactics against unsustainable fishing are divided, their work does have a direct and powerful impact. For example, highly publicised confrontations with Japanese whaling vessels has raised public awareness of the issue and has resulted in international negotiations to combat whaling.
Like many environmental organisations, Greenpeace is increasingly targeting consumers in an attempt to stop unsustainable fishing. One of their major initiatives is to help reduce pressure on stressed Yellowfin Tuna stocks by promoting environmentally friendly tuna products, mainly tinned tuna, using Skipjack Tuna. Through the introduction of an Australian ‘Tuna Ranking’, supermarkets have been under pressure to improve the sustainability of their tuna products. The Greenpeace rankings have resulted in the first sustainable canned tuna made by company, Fish4Ever. Fish4Ever uses Yellowfin for 25% of its canned tuna range (could be improved) and uses a selective fishing method, pole and line, which stops the accidental catch of turtles, sharks and juvenile tuna. The sourcing of the tuna is also transparent with information labelled on packaging. Out of the supermarkets Aldi has ranked highest, working with Greenpeace to use selective trolling to target Albacore Tuna, a healthy stock. Like Fish4Ever, Aldi’s tuna can be traced right back to its source.
Greenpeace’s Tuna Ranking has been successful and has reduced the stress on Yellowfin with major brands increasing sustainability including Coles (23% sustainably sourced tuna), Greenseas (29%) and Aldi (57%).
Australian Marine Conservation Society
The AMCS is an environmental organisation that takes a leading role in protecting Australia’s marine environment and works with government organisations like the Australian Fisheries Management Authority. It works on a wide range of issues but increasingly is involved in promoting sustainable fishing. “Our key focus is to create large marine national parks, make our fishing sustainable and recover our threatened ocean wildlife”.
The AMCS is a regular at the global Seafood Summit held yearly. At the summit, leaders in sustainable fishing around the world report their findings and successes and areas needing work are highlighted. The AMCS has introduced Australia’s first ever Seafood Guide, a guide on the sustainability of over 100 popular fish species available at seafood stores. The guide rates each fish in terms of sustainability. It has been popular with an increasing awareness in sustainable fishing and has helped to reduce the stress on some over stressed fish stocks. It also informs readers of how each fish species is caught and whether or not it is sustainable, helping reduce the use of unsustainable fishing practices.
The guide has been a success and the AMCS’s work on sustainable seafood has been influential in the movement for sustainable fishing in Australia. However, the AMCS acts only on the consumer side of combating sustainable fishing. With the resources and experience of the organisation, it should also be acting on combating unsustainable fishing through policy and lobbying.
Greenpeace
“We empower consumers to make informed, ethical and sustainable choices when buying seafood. Our ships take to the high seas to track illegal and unsustainable fishing operations in the Pacific. We participate in key regional and international forums where the fate of the world's oceans are on the table.”
Much of Greenpeace’s work on sustainable fishing involves directly combating unsustainable fishing practices. Although opinions on Greenpeace’s confrontational tactics against unsustainable fishing are divided, their work does have a direct and powerful impact. For example, highly publicised confrontations with Japanese whaling vessels has raised public awareness of the issue and has resulted in international negotiations to combat whaling.
Like many environmental organisations, Greenpeace is increasingly targeting consumers in an attempt to stop unsustainable fishing. One of their major initiatives is to help reduce pressure on stressed Yellowfin Tuna stocks by promoting environmentally friendly tuna products, mainly tinned tuna, using Skipjack Tuna. Through the introduction of an Australian ‘Tuna Ranking’, supermarkets have been under pressure to improve the sustainability of their tuna products. The Greenpeace rankings have resulted in the first sustainable canned tuna made by company, Fish4Ever. Fish4Ever uses Yellowfin for 25% of its canned tuna range (could be improved) and uses a selective fishing method, pole and line, which stops the accidental catch of turtles, sharks and juvenile tuna. The sourcing of the tuna is also transparent with information labelled on packaging. Out of the supermarkets Aldi has ranked highest, working with Greenpeace to use selective trolling to target Albacore Tuna, a healthy stock. Like Fish4Ever, Aldi’s tuna can be traced right back to its source.
Greenpeace’s Tuna Ranking has been successful and has reduced the stress on Yellowfin with major brands increasing sustainability including Coles (23% sustainably sourced tuna), Greenseas (29%) and Aldi (57%).
Australian Marine Conservation Society
The AMCS is an environmental organisation that takes a leading role in protecting Australia’s marine environment and works with government organisations like the Australian Fisheries Management Authority. It works on a wide range of issues but increasingly is involved in promoting sustainable fishing. “Our key focus is to create large marine national parks, make our fishing sustainable and recover our threatened ocean wildlife”.
The AMCS is a regular at the global Seafood Summit held yearly. At the summit, leaders in sustainable fishing around the world report their findings and successes and areas needing work are highlighted. The AMCS has introduced Australia’s first ever Seafood Guide, a guide on the sustainability of over 100 popular fish species available at seafood stores. The guide rates each fish in terms of sustainability. It has been popular with an increasing awareness in sustainable fishing and has helped to reduce the stress on some over stressed fish stocks. It also informs readers of how each fish species is caught and whether or not it is sustainable, helping reduce the use of unsustainable fishing practices.
The guide has been a success and the AMCS’s work on sustainable seafood has been influential in the movement for sustainable fishing in Australia. However, the AMCS acts only on the consumer side of combating sustainable fishing. With the resources and experience of the organisation, it should also be acting on combating unsustainable fishing through policy and lobbying.