The sustainability information on the GoodFishBadFish species profiles is no longer being updated. We will endeavour to update or remove this information as soon as possible to avoid confusion.
GoodFishBadFish has been running for nearly 10 years. When we started the website, information on seafood sustainability was difficult to find and interpret. The information that could be found online was often published by State-based fishing authorities, and there was no standardised means of assessment, so the information in different jurisdictions was hard to compare.
A lot has changed for the better over the last 10 years. More environmental groups have made their information available online, and made this information easier to interpret and more useful to the public. Government assessments have also been made available, and are more transparent and easier to understand than ever before.
The community dialogue has also changed, and it’s encouraging to see seafood sustainability much more part of the discussion. It’s now commonplace to see recipes and chefs referring to the sustainability of species and encouraging diners and home-cooks to utilise lesser-known species.
Keeping the sustainability information on GoodFishBadFish up-to-date is incredibly labour intensive. State and Federal agencies update their assessments continuously, as do environmental advocacy groups such as the Australian Marine Conservation Society. Staying abreast of all this information and ensuring that GFBF accurately reflects these changes requires constant work. GoodFishBadFish is run without funding or support from any outside organisation. We have always strived to remain impartial and free of outside influence. We want our readers to be completely assured that there is as little bias in our assessments as possible – we seek only to provide information, and to do so in a way that is easy to understand and useful for the home or restaurant cook.
To this end, I’m currently in the process of working out what to do with the website. With sustainability information now widely available, it is likely that in the future the website will focus more on cooking information, strongly advocating (as we always have) the use of underutilised and lesser-known species.
While we are not currently updating the species sustainability ratings, there’s still plenty of useful info on the site for you to check out. Try the list of ‘GFBF Favourites’, or our ever-relevant ‘Quick Tips’. If it’s sustainability info that you’re after specifically, please try the AMCS’ Sustainable Seafood Guide or the stock reports at Fish.gov.au
If you have any thoughts, suggestions, questions or comments, please feel free to get in touch.
Thank you for your support, and happy seafood eating!
Cheers, Oliver