The Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia 2025

This award goes to a supermarket with the most significant commitment to MSC-certified sustainable seafood in Australia during 2024, based on the following areas:

1. Sourcing policy and commitments

The Best Sustainable Seafood Supermarket has an up-to-date, robust, and ambitious seafood sourcing policy that prioritises MSC-certified and labelled seafood.

• Demonstrates a preference for MSC-labelled own-brand seafood across multiple categories (wet fish counters, chilled, frozen, ambient, pet, health, beauty, and wellbeing). Demonstrates an MSC-certified/labelled seafood requirement for third-party brands.
• Effectively communicates the policy on MSC-certified and labelled seafood to the public.
• Reports on progress toward commitments laid out in the sourcing policy, e.g., sustainability reports, etc.
• Supports small-scale and/or commercial fisheries on their pathway to MSC certification.
• Outline how your policy contributes towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG14, “Life Below Water”.
• May have received external awards, rankings or recognitions that acknowledge commitments and performance in seafood sustainability.

2.  Growth in MSC labelled portfolio

Offers a diverse, growing range of MSC-labelled products, including private label and proprietary brands.

To provide current data of MSC labelled seafood in 2024 (no points incurred for this)

• Total volume
• Total SKUs
• Number of species
• Categories

Provide Year on Year % growth (2023 vs 2024): 

• Volume of MSC-labelled seafood
• Volume of MSC-labelled seafood against total seafood offering
• Volume of MSC-labelled seafood in privately labelled products
• Number of MSC-labelled products
• Number of Species with the MSC label
• Categories using the MSC label

Has made a commitment to source MSC-certified seafood in new categories, e.g., pet food, health supplements, etc.

3. Communications & Engagement

The Best Sustainable Seafood Supermarket is celebratory, informative, and visible about its MSC-certified seafood range.

• Internal channels: Demonstrate how the MSC’s messaging is integrated across various departments and communications platforms:

• Magazines/catalogue
• Instore activations: shelf, freezer, decals, etc.
• Instore radio
• Online shopping
• Website
• Own social/digital media platforms

• External channels: Demonstrates how the MSC label and messaging features prominently in high impact / high reach outputs across the calendar year, e.g., above-the-line and below-the-line outdoor billboards, out-of-home advertising, PR/Media, etc. 
• Has actively participated in MSC-led campaigns, e.g., World Ocean Day, World Tuna Day, Sustainable Seafood Week and others.
• Has included messaging on MSC-certified fisheries in their communications activities.
• Ensure in-store retail staff understand the MSC via training initiatives and educational materials.
• Examples of how spokespeople and organisation ambassadors talk with pride and knowledge about their organisation’s MSC commitment.

Applications should include narrative, support materials, case studies, and reference materials.

This award recognises a new MSC labelled product launched in 2024.

Key considerations:

• Communicates the sustainability story behind the product and runs promotions to drive awareness;
• Demonstrates innovation within the industry e.g. first of its kind, new technology used, a new category;
• Considers other aspects of its environmental impact, such as packaging, carbon offset

This award goes to an individual from the Australian fishing community who has shown leadership, courage and commitment towards MSC certification and sustainability.

Eligibility:

• An individual who is part of an MSC certified fishery in Australia playing an instrumental role in meeting their sustainability operations and commitments, e.g. deck hand, diver, skipper, etc.
• Some of these commitments may include innovative ways to support fishery conditions, improvements in the pre-certification space or promoting the MSC message of sustainable seafood and a healthy ocean.

The award is open to any organisation who has engaged with the Australian community in 2024 on ocean sustainability and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

This could include, though not limited to, events, festivals, education, seafood expos, outreach, local media, competitions, or campaigns.

Whether you are a nominator, nominee, selection committee member, or administrator, we hope this will serve as a helpful guide.

Entry preparation

To assist in the planning process, develop a checklist of materials and data required for the submission so that you and your team can internally pull this together as a work in progress.

Research and selection

Research how other awards are presented for ideas to help your submission be clear, concise, engaging, and compelling.

Brief opening narrative

Including an opening narrative or an executive summary about the organisation’s commitment to incentivising sustainable fishing and seafood is a good way of communicating all the work/key takeaways and activities in a snapshot.

Review criteria

Review the criteria for the specific category carefully and present your case in a way that flows well.

Support materials

Where relevant regarding highlighting commitment to the MSC, supplement submissions with supporting evidence and links to sustainability reports, success stories, third-party quotes from influential stakeholders and internal leadership, promotional campaigns, catalogues, brochures, media articles, radio sound bites, etc.

Data and statistics

These are always helpful to substantiate commitments and provide the numbers. Also, include some narrative on what these numbers infer.

Presentation

Now that you have all your data, statistics, and information, ensure your submission is presented professionally, flows well with the listed criteria, is easy to review, and is an exciting read for the judges.

Proofread

Get someone who was not involved in the submission to proofread it.

Large files

Consider using a large file data transfer service such as Dropbox or WeTransfer.

By entering the Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia (the Awards), you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. The Marine Stewardship Council and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (the Organisers) are the joint organisers of the Awards.

1. The Awards are open to partners of the Organisers who are registered and based in Australia as well as individuals who are based in Australia and who have made a significant contribution to the vision and mission of the Organisers. Each category will state if it is for an organisation or an individual. 

2. The criteria for each award category is listed with its description on the awards web page at https://www.msc.org/en-au/what-we-are-doing/the-sustainable-seafood-awards-australia for the MSC and at https://au.asc-aqua.org/campaigns/the-sustainable-seafood-awards-australia-2025/ for the ASC.

3. Your entry must be factually correct. Upon reviewing your application, the Organisers will fact-check against its own records. Only factually correct applications will be submitted to the judging panel for judging. 

4. To enter the Awards, you must apply on the ASC or MSC website before the closing date

5. You may apply to enter more than one category, but you must submit a separate form for each category.

6. Your entry must relate to a relevant activity that took place during the 2024 calendar year. Supporting evidence should be supplied.

7. You agree that your application and supporting evidence can be shared with the relevant judges.

8. Entry submissions are open until Friday, 24 January 2025, at 6 pm (AEDT). The winners will be announced and listed on the MSC website and can start communicating their award wins from the conclusion of the event on Thursday, 6 March 2025.

9. There is no entry cost for the Awards.

10. Each entry must have a single contact person to communicate with the Organisers. 

11. You agree to provide supporting evidence, including but not limited to imagery, video, web links, and data in the format requested by the Organisers.

12. You agree to the Organisers using any or all of your application and supporting evidence for internal purposes without prior consent. The Organisers will work with winners to communicate their award(s) and reserve the right to mention award winners in all correspondence freely.

13. Some award categories will be judged. Awards judges cannot be entered in the category they are judging.

14. If any awards judge has a conflict of interest regarding an entry, that judge will not judge that entry and may be removed from judging the category in which that entry is entered. The Organisers will decide whether there is a conflict of interest and welcome any information you might have to support this decision. Once the decision has been made, it will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

15. For judged categories, judges will judge based on a scorecard. There will be a pass/fail mark, so entries achieving over the pass mark will be eligible to win. Each category will have at least two judges assessing the entries. Scores will then be averaged per entry. The entry with the highest average score will win. Where relevant, runner-up positions will be based on the next highest scores. In the event of a tie, the Organisers will take a deciding vote. The judges’ decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into. For categories based on a public vote, the entrant with the highest votes over 1,000 will win. 

16. If evidence emerges at any time that shows misconduct, such as (but not limited to) influencing the judges or falsifying evidence, then the Organisers reserve the right to remove an application or award at any time.

17. The Organisers reserve the right to change the dates, cancel the Awards, or amend these terms and conditions without prior notice.

18. You (individual or organisation) must not be under investigation by any Australian or international statutory body during the application process.

19. If there are zero applications for a category, or if the only applications entered do not meet the criteria, there will be no award for that category. The Organisers will use their discretion, and any decision is final with no correspondence entered into. The Organisers will do their best to encourage entries.

20. The Organisers accept no responsibility for failed delivery of an application. You are welcome to check that we have received it by emailing your local ASC or MSC contact.

21. These terms and conditions are governed by and will be interpreted by the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Courts of the Commonwealth of Australia will have exclusive jurisdiction.

22. Privacy: The Organisers may collect personal information from you (such as your name, home/business address, and email) to facilitate your participation in the Awards. It may be provided to the Organisers partnered delivery agents to assist with the public communications of the Awards. If you wish to opt out of this, please indicate the personal information you would like to withhold within your application. 

23. Data controller: The Marine Stewardship Council is the data controller of the MSC award entries and will store and process your data per its privacy policy.

Last updated: 30 November 2024

2024

Coles was named the MSC's Best Sustainable Seafood Supermarket, and the ASC awarded ALDI the Best Responsible Seafood Retailer title. MSC’s Best Sustainable Seafood Product - Shelf went to John West Salmon Bowls.  I&J was named ASC’s Best Responsible Seafood Brand, and Birds’ Eye Frozen Steam Fresh Fillets took the ASC’s Best Responsible Seafood Product award home.

2023

ALDI, Simplot, Austral Fisheries, Goolwa PipiCo, and Mars Petcare are amongst the winners named in the seventh Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia, run by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).

Read the full list of the 2023 award winners

2022

Coles, ALDI, Tassal, Simplot, Tuna Australia and Mars Petcare are amongst the 18 winners named across 13 categories in the sixth Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia, run by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).

2021

Austral Fisheries Glacier 51 Toothfish has taken out the title of Best Sustainable Seafood Product for the second year running, this time shared with the newly Marine Stewardship Council certified Fremantle Octopus range. Meanwhile, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council certified Australian Clean Seas kingfish scooped the accolade for Best Responsible Seafood Product.

Read the full list of the 2021 award winners

2020

Coles, ALDI, Woolworths, Taronga Zoo and Austral Fisheries were amongst those named in the Marine Stewardship Council’s 2020 Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia.

Read the full list of the 2020 award winners

2019

Coles, John West, IKEA and Taronga Zoo are celebrated in the national awards.

Read the full list of the 2019 award winners

2018

There were no awards this year.

2017

Simplot, Sealord, Taronga Zoo, Coles and Mandurah Crabfest all take home awards.

Read the full list of the 2017 award winners