The Queensland seafood industry is a dynamic network of innovative businesses harvesting some of the world’s finest seafood — and contributing significantly to the Queensland way of life.
With a retail value of $800 million a year and directly employing over 20,000 Queenslanders fulltime in harvesting, processing and marketing the catch, the seafood industry is a vital, strong and stable segment of the State’s economy.
Of course seafood has always been popular with Queenslanders. The mud crab is a Queensland icon and chilled prawns suit any occasion. However, seafood that has been popular for its taste and appearance is now being eaten in increasing quantities because of growing recognition of its many benefits to health.
On top of this, the seafood industry is a vital contributor to Queensland’s tourism industry – because it’s diverse, succulent harvest is a significant part of the “holiday lifestyle” expectations of tourists. Very often, when tourists are dining — on a boat trip, at an informal barbecue or in a “white-tablecloth” restaurant — fresh local seafood is centre of plate.
The contribution that seafood makes to the economic health of Queensland is easy to appreciate. You only have to walk along the waterfront of any port from Southport or Mooloolaba to Cairns or Karumba to see how significant fishing is in coastal centres. Many of the 20,000 jobs reliant on seafood are provided in small regional towns well away from the major metropolitan centres.
With so many hundreds of millions of dollars for the Queensland economy and so many thousands of jobs for Queenslanders at stake, the industry is passionate about protecting our fisheries.
Professional fishing is managed so that present catches can remain sustainable at the same levels year after year into the future. Fisheries in Queensland are based on the principle of ecologically sustainable development, or ESD, a principle the seafood industry wholeheartedly supports.
The industry harvests a wide range of seafood species from diverse habitats; for example, mud crabs in the rivers and tuna far over the horizon, mullet along surf beaches and prawns in rivers, bays and open ocean waters, scallops from the sea floor and oysters reared in estuary “farms”.
The Queensland Seafood Industry Association (QSIA) is committed to ensuring a secure, profitable and sustainable long-term future for the Queensland seafood industry, and ensuring too that future generations enjoy the same benefits from Queensland seafood that we all enjoy today.
