This week, Australia's popular TV Chef, Tom Kime, opens the doors to his eatery, Fish & Co; the sustainable seafood cafe, as the first independent restaurant in NSW to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody certification.
Traceability trailblazers
MSC Country manager in Australia, Patrick Caleo said this was a great achievement for the sustainable seafood movement in Australia.
"Achieving MSC’s Chain of Custody (CoC)certification, means the seafood Tom Kime serves with the MSC blue ecolabel can be completely traced and tracked from your plate all the way back to the patch of ocean where the fish were caught. In fact, we do random DNA sampling to make sure."
"Having complete chain of custody traceability in place is becoming increasingly popular in Australia and it’s so good to see trailblazers like Tom leading the way," said Mr Caleo.
Mr Kime has always been passionate about sustainable fishing and seafood and travelled the world researching and writing about it in his award-winning book, Fish Tales - stories from sustainable fisheries around the world.
Being sustainable is an every day choice
"We’re really proud to be the first independent restaurant in NSW to receive this Chain of Custody. The MSC ecolabel is the most trusted and recognised indicator of seafood sustainability," said Mr Kime.
"The message I’d like to pass onto other restaurants and chefs is that it’s really easy to use sustainable seafood. Being sustainable is not posh or highbrow, or something that’s exclusive. Choosing sustainable fish is about every day seafood choices. It’s looking at alternative species and fish that have a certification from an internationally respected ecolabel such as the MSC," said Mr Kime.
A full list of MSC CoC certified suppliers in Australia can be found at www.msc.org Recently Sydney premium seafood supplier, Joto, became certified making is easier for restaurants such as Fish & Co to serve certified sustainably sourced seafood.
Multiple species available
As well as being the first independent venue in NSW, as Taronga Zoo’s Harbour View Café achieved MSC certification in 2012, Fish & Co is the first restaurant in NSW to have a multi species sustainable certification using at least nine species with the MSC ecolabel, six of which are Australian. These include:
- Banana Prawns from the Northern Prawn fishery, the largest prawn fishery in Australia with MSC certification,
- Toothfish from Heard Island,
- Coorong Yellow Eye Mullet, School Mulloway and Coorong Pipis from the Coorong in South Australia.
- Spencer Gulf Prawns from the Spencer Gulf in South Australia.
- Wild Sock Eye Salmon, from Alaska
- Hake and Hoki, from New Zealand.
"The number of different species on the menu will increase as more fisheries come on board with the MSC certification in Australia and internationally. Many fish will be sourced from Western Australia in the next 12 months, as there is an increase in the number of fisheries in primary assessment for MSC certification," said Mr Kime.
There are currently four restaurants in Western Australia and one other café in NSW which have achieved MSC CoC certification in Australia.
"I believe our duty as chefs is to provide information to customers. This is what we have to do to – it’s not just serving food. We have to inspire and positively re-educate our customers to choose sustainably," said Mr Kime.