Our assessment criteria
Our assessment process is underpinned by the Sustainable Australian Seafood Assessment Criteria. We use them to assess whether seafood products are produced in an ecologically sustainable manner.
The criteria have been adapted from those applied by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program in California using a ‘Green’, ‘Yellow’ and ‘Red’ colour grading. However, our criteria are designed to better reflect local Australian situations and conditions in our assessment decisions
WHAT THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS AIMS TO ENSURE ABOUT OUR ASSESSMENTS
Independent, transparent, systematic, scientifically rigorous and robust with quality benchmarks
Outcomes based, time and cost effective, and applicable to both wild-catch and farmed seafood products
Providing for collaborative engagement with the seafood industry
Rewarding, encouraging, promoting and guiding the efforts of the seafood industry to enhance the sustainability of seafood products and support their marketing and promotion
Helping consumers identify and choose the most sustainable seafood products in their local marketplace.
| Wild-catch criteria | Wild-catch sub-criteria |
|---|---|
| 1. Status of wild stocks (target and by-product species) | 1.1 Management classification 1.2 Current population relative to unfished level 1.3 Extent of overfishing 1.4 Long-term trends 1.5 Biological parameters 1.6 Management effectiveness |
| 2. Bycatch | 2.1 Quantity of bycatch 2.2 Population impacts of bycatch 2.3 Ecosystem impacts of bycatch discards 2.4 Management effectiveness |
| 3. Impacts of fishing on habitats and ecosystems | 3.1 Trophic impacts of catch 3.2 Physical effects on habitats 3.3 Spatial scale of impacts 3.4 Temporal scale of impacts 3.5 Management effectiveness |
| Farmed criteria | Farmed sub-criteria |
| 1. Disease and parasite risk | 1.1 Risk of introduction, amplification or retransmission of disease or parasites to native species 1.2 Input and use of chemicals, including antibiotics, therapeutants and antifoulants 1.3 Management effectiveness |
| 2. Siting and cumulative impacts | 2.1 Direct impacts on habitats 2.2 Near-field impacts of water and sediment pollution 2.3 Regional impacts 2.4 Management effectiveness |
| 3. Wildlife interactions | 3.1 The operation has an insignificant risk of wildlife interaction 3.2 Behavioural effects 3.3 Entanglements and incidental mortality 3.4 Escapes, translocation, and genetic impacts 3.5 Management effectiveness |
| 4. Sustainability of wild-sourced stock and food sources | 4.1 Ongoing reliance on wild stocks 4.2 Wild stocks of the cultivated species used as source stock are sustainable 4.3 Food for the farmed product is sourced from sustainable resources |