HOSPITALITY venues will have to identify whether the fish they are serving is harvested in Australia on their menus in a new initiative.
The state government announced the new initiative earlier this week with state, territory and Commonwealth affairs ministers voting on the proposal.
The move has since had strong support from seafood industry bodies.
It will require restaurants and fish and chip shops to label the source of their fish.
An ‘A’ denotes products harvested in Australia.
An ‘I’ would be required for fish harvested internationally and an ‘M’ will be used for seafood which contains a mix of local and international products.
In order to be labelled Australian, the seafood needs to be harvested from Australian seas or internal waters.
Minister for Primary Industries Clare Scriven said providing South Australian consumers with the right to choose what food they consumed by consistent country of origin labelling laws was a “huge win” for the seafood sector.
“The change follows two decades of advocacy working with our state’s seafood industry and we know this will be a game changer for our local fishermen in our Limestone Coast to help promote local produce,” Ms Scriven said.
“There will be a 12-month transition period and once complete we are looking forward to seeing this increased transparency for diners and businesses which will support our ever-growing seafood sector.”
Co-owner of Fishbank Jo Chronis said they fully endorsed this model, believing it was essential to communicate “as much information as possible” to diners.
“We can proudly boast being awarded South Australia’s best seafood restaurant for two consecutive years and we are committed to supporting local seafood industry wherever possible,” he said.”
