MSC in Australia and New Zealand

Certified fisheries

There are 8 fisheries in Australia and New Zealand that have been certified against the MSC standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries, with another 6 fisheries currently undergoing full MSC assessment.

Certified fisheries in Australia:

• Western Australia rock lobster fishery  (the first fishery in the world to gain MSC certification),
• Spencer Gulf king prawn fishery  (the world's first MSC certified king prawn fishery)
• Australian HIMI mackerel icefish fishery
• South Australia Lakes and Coorong fishery (which provides mulloway, golden perch, yellow-eye mullet and pipis).

Fisheries in assessment in Australia:

• Northern prawn fishery
• Macquarie Island toothfish fishery.

In New Zealand, one third of all fisheries are now engaged in the MSC programme. There are 3 certified fisheries in New Zealand:

• New Zealand hoki fishery
• New Zealand albacore tuna troll fishery
• Ross Sea toothfish fishery. 

Fisheries in assessment in New Zealand: 

• NZ EEZ hake trawl fishery,
• NZ EEZ ling trawl and longline fishery
• NZ EEZ southern blue whiting pelagic trawl fishery
• NZ southern scallop fishery.

Supply chain

Several leading seafood companies are certified for Chain of Custody in Australia and New Zealand. These include Simplot, Pacific West, Markwell Foods, Kylie Australia, Sealord, Sanford, United Fisheries, Stewart Foods, Independent Fisheries operating in New Zealand and Kailis Bros and Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-Op operating in Australia.

Use our Find a supplier search tool to find the businesses in the region offering certified sustainable seafood.

Retail and brands

The number of MSC certified products on Australian shelves is growing steadily. There are now more than 120 MSC certified canned and frozen seafood products available in Australia, including red and pink salmon, tuna, hake, hoki, herring and mackerel. These products all bear the blue ecolabel and are available in the seafood sections of major retailers Woolworths, Coles and Aldi. They include recognised brands such as John West, Pacific West, Birds Eye, Tally’s, Sealord, Fish4Ever and Vital Choice, as well as, Woolworth’s own Select brand, Aldi’s Ocean Rise brand and Coles’ private label. There are also 14 products on retail shelves in New Zealand.

To search for certified sustainable seafood in your country and get updates when new MSC-labelled products are launched visit the MSC’s new sustainable seafood product finder.

Foodservice and restaurants

There is one cafe/restaurant certified for MSC Chain of Custody in Australia, allowing them to use the MS ecolabel next to the certified products on their menu. This is the Compass Group run Cafe Harbourview at Sydney's iconic Taronga Zoo.

If you are interested in getting your cafe/restaurant MSC certified for Chain of Custody find out how.