What is provenance?
Basically, it is where something comes from. It’s origin.
Why is provenance important in relation to seafood?
Knowing how and where seafood was caught is central to empowering consumers in making choices about what they eat.
Knowing where seafood comes from enables consumers to choose sustainable sources. Or seafood from clean waters and healthy habitats. Or to support local businesses and families. Should they choose to do so!
Provenance is central to our business at Tobin Fish Tales. We care a lot about where our seafood comes from!
We choose to source our seafood from local, Australian fisheries that are managed for sustainability.
We choose to buy from individual fishers that demonstrate care for the environment they fish in, and respect for the product they harvest.
Our coral trout, for instance, comes from Qld’s pristine Great Barrier Reef, from a fishery which is managed with marine parks, spawning closures, size limits, gear restrictions (1 hook, 1 line), catch quotas, daily catch reporting and vessel monitoring. We catch much of our coral trout ourselves, from our own boat.
We also supplement that catch by buying from Chris Bolton[1] whose product quality is exceptional! Chris has been in the industry for over 30 years, is a Reef Guardian Fisher[2], and was recently awarded the Seafood Producer of Australia award[3].
Our barramundi comes from Sienna Green, a third-generation fisher from the Burdekin region south of Townsville, who catches some of the best presented wild caught barramundi available. We are lucky enough to secure access to some of Sienna’s barra before it is snapped up by many envious buyers. As a third generational fisher, Sienna works in the Burdekin region learning directly from her mum and dad, and indirectly from her grandparents who also made a living fishing the region. Continued family investment in a fish, a fishery and a region, makes for very strong stewardship and sustainable practices. Neil Green, Sienna’s Dad has won many accolades including an environmental award for his work around protecting dugong from entanglement in nets. Sienna, taking after her dad, recently won accolades as a Young Achiever in the fishing industry for her leadership and stewardship[4].
These are just some of the great tales within the Australian commercial fishing industry. There are many more!
We (Andy and Renae, plus our son Elliot!) have been privileged to be included in FRDC’s Commercial Wild Catch video series, to talk about what Provenance means to us and why it’s important. Check it out here!
[4] Queensland Seafood Industry Awards | 2022 Winners and Finalists (queenslandseafoodmarketers.com.au)
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