Cheap seafood costs Australians dearly
Wed 19 October 2011
Mary Trust, Bachelor of Communication
The drive to reduce Australian grocery bills has resulted in an increased focus on seafood, but consumers could pay high prices in reduced quality and environmental damage.
Following dramatic price wars, in which major supermarket chains slashed the price of bread and milk to below production cost, the spotlight is now on the iconic Australian prawn.
If production of wild-caught prawns ceases to be economically viable for Australian fishermen, the question of where and how Australia will continue to source this seafood becomes increasingly pertinent.
Demand and support for cheap seafood may mean short-term gratification for consumers, but result in reduced choice of production methods and quality of produce.
De Brett Seafood managing director Gary Heilmann told the Sunshine Coast Daily he was confident the supermarkets' latest cost-cutting move would have little impact on Australian seafood producers.
But this view may be overly optimistic, with others in the trade cautious about the effect price-slashing could have on the wild prawn industry, product quality and the environment.
Queensland fishing advocate and long-standing member of the Australian fishing industry Vicki Brown said very few Australian wild-caught prawns were sold in supermarkets.
Ms Brown said it was only niche seafood retailers that offered consumers a real choice between domestic, wild-caught prawns and farmed (aquaculture) product.
“Wild-caught seafood is better quality [than farmed] and tastes much better but it’s often too unreliable for supermarkets, which is why they stock a lot of farmed products,” Ms Brown said.
“Supermarkets want consistency in size and supply, and with wild-caught you just can’t guarantee that."
Ms Brown said consumers should be asking where their seafood was sourced, and considering the implications of low priced products on local producers, independent retailers and the environment.
“People aren’t asking how the seafood they’re eating has been produced, they’re just looking at the cost,” Ms Brown said.
“When they see supermarket prawns for $A14 and the ones off the wharf are double that, it’s hard to get them to understand what the difference is."
Ms Brown said the strong Australian dollar, coupled with low-priced farmed prawns, meant Australian commercial fishers were often unable to compete financially in domestic and international markets.
Ms Brown added that many prawn trawlers had left the industry, with others increasingly desperate to sell their fishing licences.
Mooloolaba, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, was once one of the biggest prawn ports in Australia, but a recent report in the Sunshine Coast Daily outlined the demise of the industry.
Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) biologist John Smith (who requested his real name not be used) agreed with Ms Brown’s view of the declining wild prawn industry.
Mr Smith said there would very likely come a time when Australia no longer had a wild prawn industry.
“It’s a definite possibility...it’s already happening slowly,” Mr Smith said.
“Twenty years ago there were around 1400 vessels in the prawn trawl industry and now there are around 450 vessels.”
Despite this pessimism, the Australian Government promotes aquaculture as a sustainable and responsible growth industry.
The Australian Government Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) reported that aquaculture was one of the fastest growing primary sector industries.
Across the aquaculture industry, production doubled in a decade, from a total of 29,300 tonnes in 1997-8 to 62,500 tonnes in 2007-08.
But the boom in aquaculture resulted in a corresponding decline in return on wild prawns, with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) attributing this to increased imports, the high Australian dollar and rising fuel costs.
Although Australian consumers may delight in cheaper prawn prices, both Ms Brown and Mr Smith said these benefits needed to be weighed against production and health issues associated with cheap products.
Countries that produce low-cost seafood, especially in the South-East Asia region, do not always adhere to the same stringent standards as Australia.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the uproar surrounding the safety of farmed vannamei prawns from Asia, highlighting the potential consequences of demanding cheap products.
The report exposed the widespread use of antibiotics banned in Australia but found in farmed vannamei prawns imported from Asia.
The United States Food and Drug Administration also published concerns regarding contamination of Asian aquaculture seafood with illegal substances.
Problems with toxicity in aquaculture are extensive, including chemicals and fungicides used routinely in the farmed prawn industry to treat disease and improve water quality.
The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) warned that aquaculture caused immense damage to the environment, polluting plants and waterways and adversely affecting wild seafood.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) asserted “the fundamental issue with farming many seafood species in Australia is that aquaculture doesn’t take the pressure off wild fisheries, it actually exacerbates it”.
Mr Smith said it would be difficult for the Australian Government to efficiently test enough local and imported aquaculture seafood to ensure there was no risk of harmful pathogens or chemicals entering the food-chain.
Ms Brown said education was vital to encourage Australian consumers to support their domestic seafood producers.
The question remains of whether it is already too late for the Australian prawn industry.Image(s) designed by leomm (Leonardo Menezes) 878132 www.sxc.hu