Volume 199 - Issue 7
Australia’s dietary guidelines and the environmental impact of food “from paddock to plate”
Author: Linda A Selvey
Med J Aust 2013; 199 (7): 457-459. || doi: 10.5694/mja13.10969
Published online: 7 October 2013
Published online: 7 October 2013
To the Editor: Selvey and Carey1 cite an article by Srinivasan and colleagues2 to support their claim that “Forty per cent of Australia’s managed fish stocks have been deemed overfished”. However, the data in
that article were misquoted from the Australian Government’s Fishery status reports 2006, which actually stated that 14 of the 97 fish stocks reviewed were overfished3 - 14%, not 40%. More recent evidence from ...
In reply: While I welcome correspondence about our perspective,1 I would like to point out that the comments made do not provide the complete picture from the publications cited. The Status of key Australian fish stocks reports 2012 only provided information on about 70% of Australia’s catch.2 Of the 150 fish stocks reviewed, 98 were deemed healthy, two were overfished, 11 were either “transitional–recovering” or “transitional–depleting”, and 39 were “undefined”. Although state assessments found snapper in Queensland and New South Wales to be overfished, the stock was reported as undefined.2 There is no information about the remaining 30% of Australia’s catch, including the status of jackass morwong, gemfish, garfish, and blue warehou, all of which have been found to be overfished.3
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that global per capita fish consumption has increased from 9.9 kg in the 1960s to 18.4 kg in 2009.4 This, combined with an increasing population, is increasing the pressure on fisheries. Global marine catch reduced from 86.4 million tonnes in 1996 to 77.4 million tonnes in 2010.4 In 2009, 30% of global fish stocks were overexploited and 57% fully exploited. The FAO concluded that “the state of world marine fisheries is worsening and has had a negative impact on fishery production”.4 With more than 60% of the fish consumed in Australia being imported,5 we have a responsibility to ensure the security of both global and national fish stocks. Increasing our consumption is not wise.
Competing interests
I am a member of the management committee of Doctors for the Environment Australia and was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
References
- Selvey LA, Carey MG. Australia’s dietary guidelines and the environmental impact of food “from paddock to plate”. Med J Aust 2013; 198: 18-19. 0_CHDFAJAJ
- Flood M, Stobutzki I, Andrews J, et al. Status of key Australian fish stocks reports 2012. Canberra: Australian Government Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, 2012. http://www.fish.gov.au/Pages/SAFS_Report.aspx (accessed Jul 2013).
- Hunt C. Do assessments of fish stock sustainability work for consumers? The Conversation 2012; 13 Dec. http://theconversation.com/do-assessments-of-fish-stock-sustainability-work-for-consumers-11285 (accessed Jul 2013).
- Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2012. Part 1: World review of fisheries and aquaculture. Rome: FAO, 2012. http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2727e/i2727e01.pdf (accessed Jul 2013).
- Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. National aquaculture sector overview: Australia. http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/naso_australia/en (accessed Jul 2013).