Sustainability key for carbon-neutral Austral

A strong, whole-of-business focus on quality and sustainability has helped Austral Fisheries achieve a significant lift in its turnover during the past four years.

Much of that has been driven by a move down the supply chain in sale of branded products, making the company one of the largest vertically integrated fishing plays in Australia.

Austral had traded its catch as a commodity, the company said, before creating two major brands, Glacier 51 Toothfish and Skull Island Tiger Prawns.

Those toothfish, also known as Patagonian toothfish, are found more than 4,000 kilometres south of Australia at Heard Island, where they swim about two kilometres below the surface of the south-west Indian Ocean.

Austral said it had developed marketing stories for its brands that focused on provenance, quality and sustainability.

“A powerful example is the development of our toothfish brand Glacier 51,” Austral said.

“The species was under severe pressure from illegal fishing, sold for only $3 per kilo and was being removed from supermarket shelves.”

Now it retails for $120/kg in Sydney and is sold at 1,200 restaurants worldwide, including in the US, China and Dubai.

Austral has also achieved carbon-neutral status, crediting its consultative approach on environmental issues as being a key part of its strategy at a time when parts of the green movement are looking to shut down the industry.

Austral plans to lead the industry on this front.

“By becoming carbon neutral, we hope that we will be able to influence others in the fish business to do the same,” the company said.

Austral hopes its suppliers and customers will become carbon neutral too, making its product entirely emissions free.

In warmer water to the north, the company is Australia’s second largest prawn producer, catching the seafood in the Gulf of Carpentaria and Timor Sea.