MSC Certified Seafood Awards Australia 2027

This award recognises outstanding supermarket leadership in sourcing, expanding and promoting MSC certified sustainable seafood. It celebrates retailers that turn sourcing commitments into meaningful action and make certified sustainable seafood a visible, accessible part of everyday shopping.

Entries will be assessed on achievements during the 2026 calendar year across three areas:

• Sourcing policy and commitments – prioritising MSC certified seafood, reporting on progress and supporting fisheries on their journey towards certification.
• Growth in the MSC-labelled range – demonstrating year-on-year growth across products, species and categories.
• Consumer activation – helping shoppers identify and choose MSC certified seafood through effective in-store and online communications, customer marketing and loyalty programmes.

Entry method: Self-nomination.

*Detailed criteria and submission requirements will be emailed directly to supermarkets.

To request a copy, please contact Anita Lee at [email protected].

This award recognises an outstanding MSC-labelled product launched in the 2026 calendar year for the retail or foodservice market.

It celebrates products that combine certified sustainable sourcing with innovation and consumer appeal, making sustainable seafood an attractive, practical choice.

In your submission, demonstrate your product’s achievements across the following areas:

• Sustainable sourcing and impact – how the product supports MSC certified sustainable seafood, including, where available, evidence of additional environmental improvements such as reduced packaging or carbon footprint.
• Innovation – what sets the product apart, whether through its format, technology, convenience or introduction to a new category.
• Consumer relevance and accessibility – how the product meets customer needs and makes certified sustainable seafood easier to choose through convenience, value or availability, supported by customer feedback or market results where available.
• Communications – clear, engaging messaging that helps customers understand the product’s sustainable seafood credentials, with environmental claims consistent with ACCC guidance.
• Collaboration – how partnerships with fisheries, suppliers, retailers or others contributed to the product’s development, sustainable sourcing or market launch.

Entry method: Self-nomination or nomination by others.

This award celebrates a brand demonstrating outstanding commitment to MSC certified sustainable seafood. It recognises brands that turn sourcing commitments into action, build consumer trust and make certified sustainable seafood a clear and accessible choice.

In your submission, demonstrate your brand’s achievements during the 2026 calendar year across the following areas:

• Sourcing and impact – measurable progress in sourcing MSC certified seafood and expanding its availability across the brand’s range.
• Consumer engagement – clear, creative communications that help consumers recognise and choose MSC-labelled products, with environmental claims consistent with ACCC guidance.
• Leadership and innovation – initiatives that advance sustainable seafood through improved practices, new approaches or market development.
• Collaboration – partnerships with fisheries, suppliers, retailers, NGOs or communities that strengthen sustainable sourcing and deliver shared outcomes.
• Continual improvement – progress against the brand’s sustainable seafood commitments, supported by clear next steps and targets.

Entry method: Self-nomination or nomination by others.

This award celebrates individuals, organisations and institutions that bring people together to make sustainable seafood part of everyday life. It recognises initiatives that build understanding, encourage participation and turn shared enthusiasm into practical action and lasting habits.

From schools and local groups to workplaces and wider community networks, these champions help people discover why sustainable fishing matters and how their choices can make a difference.

Eligible initiatives include education programmes, community events, festivals, seafood expos, outreach activities, local media engagement, competitions and campaigns. Both new and established initiatives are welcome, with an emphasis on meaningful involvement and benefits that extend beyond a single event or promotional activity.

In your submission, demonstrate the nominee’s achievements across the following areas:

• Community impact – evidence of increased understanding, changed practices or sustained action supporting MSC certified sustainable seafood.
• Engagement and participation – how the initiative makes it easy and welcoming for people to get involved, contribute and take practical action.
• Community leadership – how it responds to community interests and needs, supports local champions and enables others to lead.
• Collaboration – partnerships that bring together knowledge, resources and community voices to deliver shared outcomes.
• Lasting momentum – how the initiative encourages repeat participation, reinforces sustainable seafood habits or gives communities the tools to continue independently.

Entries will be assessed on the depth and significance of their contribution, including even small initiatives with strong local outcomes.

Entry method: Self-nomination or nomination by others.

Behind every MSC certified fishery are people whose skill, care and hard work bring sustainable fishing to life. This award celebrates an individual from Australia’s fishing community who goes the extra mile to look after the ocean, support their crew and help secure the future of their fishery.

They might be a skipper finding a better way to reduce bycatch, a deckhand carefully recording interactions with marine life, or a diver sharing knowledge built over years on the water. Their contribution may be a new idea or a longstanding commitment to doing things well. What matters is the difference they make through their everyday work and the example they set for others.

Eligibility

The nominee must be:

• An individual working on the water in an MSC certified fishery in Australia, such as a skipper, deckhand, diver or crew member.
• Actively contributing to their fishery’s sustainability practices and commitments.

Their contribution may include improvements made on the journey to certification, work to meet certification conditions, or ongoing efforts to strengthen sustainable fishing practices.

Entry method: Self-nomination or nomination by others.

Nominated by others, this award is a celebration of a life devoted to sustainable fishing. It honours an extraordinary individual whose vision, courage and unwavering commitment have shaped the future of sustainable seafood.

These are the pioneers and pathfinders who inspire us all - people whose legacy is felt not just in policies or practices, but in healthier oceans, stronger communities, and the generations they have inspired to follow in their footsteps.

Their influence extends beyond their own achievements, through the people they have mentored, the communities they have supported and the foundations they have laid for those who follow.

Their journey embodies the very heart of the MSC mission and advances UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water.

This is an opportunity to recognise someone whose contribution deserves to be celebrated and to tell the story of the difference they have made.

Eligibility

The nominee must demonstrate:

• A longstanding career in sustainable fishing, seafood or a related field.
• Significant contributions to advancing MSC certification, fisheries improvements or sustainability practices across the seafood sector.
• Lasting influence through leadership, collaboration, mentoring or service to fishing and seafood communities.

Entry method: Nomination by others.

Sustainable fishing depends on sound science and the people who turn evidence into action. This award recognises an individual, team or collaboration whose research, knowledge or practical application of science has made a significant contribution to sustainable wild-capture fishing in Australia.

It celebrates work that helps fisheries understand and reduce their environmental impacts, strengthens fisheries management or supports progress towards the MSC’s vision of healthy oceans and seafood supplies for future generations.

Eligible contributions may include stock assessment, bycatch reduction, habitat protection, ecosystem research, monitoring methods and the integration of scientific, fishing and Indigenous knowledge.

In your submission, demonstrate achievements across the following areas:

• Quality of evidence – robust methods and credible findings, with clear acknowledgement of uncertainties and limitations.
• Practical contribution – how the work has informed fishing practices, management decisions or conservation measures relevant to sustainable fisheries.
• Collaboration and knowledge sharing – meaningful involvement of relevant partners and effective sharing of findings with those who can use them.
• Lasting value – how the contribution can support continued improvements, wider adoption or better understanding over time.

Entry method: Self-nomination or nomination by others. Open to individuals, teams and institutional collaborations.

By entering the MSC Certified Seafood Awards Australia (the Awards), you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. The Marine Stewardship Council (the Organiser) is the organiser of the Awards.

1. The Awards are open to partners of the Organiser who are registered and based in Australia as well as individuals who are based in Australia and who have made a significant contribution to the vision and mission of the Organisers. Each category will state if it is for an organisation or an individual. 

2. The criteria for each award category is listed with its description on the awards web page at https://www.msc.org/en-au/what-we-are-doing/the-sustainable-seafood-awards-australia 

3. Your entry must be factually correct. Upon reviewing your application, the Organisers will fact-check against its own records. Only factually correct applications will be submitted to the judging panel for judging. 

4. To enter the Awards, you must apply on the MSC website before the closing date

5. You may apply to enter more than one category, but you must submit a separate form for each category.

6. Your entry must relate to a relevant activity that took place during the 2026 calendar year. Supporting evidence should be supplied.

7. You agree that your application and supporting evidence can be shared with the relevant judges.

8. Entry submissions are open until Friday, 29 January 2026, at 6 pm (AEDT). The winners will be announced and listed on the MSC website and can start communicating their award wins from the conclusion of the event on a date in April 2027.

9. There is no entry cost for the Awards.

10. Each entry must have a single contact person to communicate with the Organiser. 

11. You agree to provide supporting evidence, including but not limited to imagery, video, web links, and data in the format requested by the Organiser.

12. You agree to the Organiser using any or all of your application and supporting evidence for internal purposes without prior consent. The Organiser will work with winners to communicate their award(s) and reserve the right to mention award winners in all correspondence freely.

13. Some award categories will be judged. Awards judges cannot be entered in the category they are judging.

14. If any awards judge has a conflict of interest regarding an entry, that judge will not judge that entry and may be removed from judging the category in which that entry is entered. The Organiser will decide whether there is a conflict of interest and welcome any information you might have to support this decision. Once the decision has been made, it will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

15. For judged categories, judges will judge based on a scorecard. There will be a pass/fail mark, so entries achieving over the pass mark will be eligible to win. Each category will have at least two judges assessing the entries. Scores will then be averaged per entry. The entry with the highest average score will win. Where relevant, runner-up positions will be based on the next highest scores. In the event of a tie, the Organisers will take a deciding vote. The judges’ decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

16. If evidence emerges at any time that shows misconduct, such as (but not limited to) influencing the judges or falsifying evidence, then the Organiser reserves the right to remove an application or award at any time.

17. The Organiser reserve the right to change the dates, cancel the Awards, or amend these terms and conditions without prior notice.

18. You (individual or organisation) must not be under investigation by any Australian or international statutory body during the application process.

19. If there are zero applications for a category, or if the only applications entered do not meet the criteria, there will be no award for that category. The Organiser will use their discretion, and any decision is final with no correspondence entered into. The Organiser will do their best to encourage entries.

20. The Organiser accept no responsibility for failed delivery of an application. You are welcome to check that we have received it by emailing your local MSC contact.

21. These terms and conditions are governed by and will be interpreted by the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Courts of the Commonwealth of Australia will have exclusive jurisdiction.

22. Privacy: The Organiser may collect personal information from you (such as your name, home/business address, and email) to facilitate your participation in the Awards. It may be provided to the Organiser partnered delivery agents to assist with the public communications of the Awards. If you wish to opt out of this, please indicate the personal information you would like to withhold within your application. 

23. Data controller: The Marine Stewardship Council is the data controller of the MSC award entries and will store and process your data per its privacy policy.

Last updated: 28 October 2026

2026

2025

2024

Coles was named the MSC's Best Sustainable Seafood Supermarket, and the ASC awarded ALDI the Best Responsible Seafood Retailer title. MSC’s Best Sustainable Seafood Product - Shelf went to John West Salmon Bowls.  I&J was named ASC’s Best Responsible Seafood Brand, and Birds’ Eye Frozen Steam Fresh Fillets took the ASC’s Best Responsible Seafood Product award home.

2023

ALDI, Simplot, Austral Fisheries, Goolwa PipiCo, and Mars Petcare are amongst the winners named in the seventh Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia, run by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).

Read the full list of the 2023 award winners

2022

Coles, ALDI, Tassal, Simplot, Tuna Australia and Mars Petcare are amongst the 18 winners named across 13 categories in the sixth Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia, run by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).

2021

Austral Fisheries Glacier 51 Toothfish has taken out the title of Best Sustainable Seafood Product for the second year running, this time shared with the newly Marine Stewardship Council certified Fremantle Octopus range. Meanwhile, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council certified Australian Clean Seas kingfish scooped the accolade for Best Responsible Seafood Product.

Read the full list of the 2021 award winners

2020

Coles, ALDI, Woolworths, Taronga Zoo and Austral Fisheries were amongst those named in the Marine Stewardship Council’s 2020 Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia.

Read the full list of the 2020 award winners

2019

Coles, John West, IKEA and Taronga Zoo are celebrated in the national awards.

Read the full list of the 2019 award winners

2018

There were no awards this year.

2017

Simplot, Sealord, Taronga Zoo, Coles and Mandurah Crabfest all take home awards.

Read the full list of the 2017 award winners