Seafood business Mures removes Tasmanian salmon from menus
Famous seafood business Mures has removed Tasmanian salmon from its menus, saying the current spotlight on the industry has brought pressure from customers. Mures Tasmania has three restaurants and a fishmongers at Victoria Dock in Hobart.
Director Will Mure said a "difficult decision" was made to pull it from menus. We have a reputation at stake for our sustainability stance and we would like to stay strong to that," Mr Mure said.
ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council) certified Tasmanian salmon will still be sold at Mures fishmongers and retail outlets.
In recent years, other Hobart restaurants have also revised their support for locally farmed salmon — with Tasmania's Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) pulling salmon from their menus in 2017.
Mr Mure said he was proactive about sustainability of wild-caught fishing, and was confident his business's own fishing practices were top-tier.
Bob Brown Foundation spokesperson Alistair Allan, who is the Greens candidate for the federal seat of Lyons, supported Mures' decision.
"I think Australians have woken up to the news that Tasmanian salmon really isn't clean and green anymore." In a statement, he said Mures had "listened to community concern" but they "should take the step completely. They have identified that it's not appropriate to sell it at restaurants. The same reasons apply to their fishmongers. Otherwise it's nothing more than a PR move".
NOFF adds that the Aquaculture Stewardship Council is industry owned and funded. Its primary sources of finance are annual fees from certification license holders and royalties collected on consumer products with the ASC label.
In 2018 Seachoice, part of the respected David Suzuki Foundation, did a comprehensive analysis of ASC certifications world wide. Their report on Australia identified that Australian companies were certifying less than half their leases, yet marketing all their products as ASC certified, and that the Australian companies rarely followed ASC standards.
Recently NOFF worked with other conservation groups to make a detailed, evidence-based submission to a Federal Senate enquiry on greenwashing. We pointed to eco-certifications schemes that simply require certified farms to follow government regulations, and mislead seafood shoppers with their promises, and that politicians are using these vague claims to shore up the industry in news media.