Seafood program scaled up
A SUSTAINABLE seafood program is set to go national following a successful pilot project involving the Surf Coast Shire.
The council partnered with the Australian Marine Conservation Society for the Good Fish Project pilot.
The pilot saw Surf Coast restaurants commit to sourcing and serving more sustainable seafood and featured initiatives including Good Fish Fridays, a weekly sustainable seafood offering from local restaurants.
The AMCS announced it had secured funding for a parttime officer to roll out the project nationally.
Mayor David Bell welcomed the announcement, and noted that the Surf Coast Shire was the country’s first municipality to embrace the project in 2015.
“The pilot project was suc- cessful because of the dedication of local restaurants and chefs, who contributed to a more sustainable future for our local seafood industry and helped protect ocean wildlife,” Cr Bell said.
He said the pilot occurred before the council launched its Towards Environmental Leadership program, and demonstrated what could be achieved when council collaborated with “our environmentally conscious community”.
AMCS senior marine campaigner Tooni Mahto praised the council’s willingness to be involved.
“Council’s environmental vision gave AMCS the opportunity to road test the Good Fish Project — the first of its kind in Australia,” she said.
Renowned chef Matt Dempsey was the Good Fish Project pilot’s local ambassador. For more information on the project, visit goodfishproject.com.au.