About Us.

Seafood Industry Victoria (SIV) is the representative peak body for the Victorian seafood industry, from professional fishers, through to wholesalers, processors and retailers.

SIV is the leading voice on Victoria’s seafood industry and responds on the industry's behalf - communicating and ensuring the flow of information between the industry, fisheries stakeholder groups and communities. 

SIV works to build and inform a united, ecologically sustainable and thriving industry valued by Victorian communities. SIV works on principles of collaboration, equity and access so that everyone can enjoy Victorian Seafood. Central to our industry is striving for the highest sustainability standards and using the best available science to manage fisheries.

SIV represents the industry’s interests across a range of forums including fisheries legislation and management, licensing and resource access issues, marine, freshwater and coastal environmental issues, native title, research and development, safety, education and training for the seafood industry, media and public relations, and the promotion of seafood.

Working together for sustainability, equity and fairness.

The marine environment from which our industry harvests seafood is a multi-user environment. SIV strongly believes that all relevant marine stakeholders be involved in making decisions for the use of Victoria’s shared marine spaces, and shared access to resources that belong to the Victorian public. This requires fair, equitable and transparent consultation, negotiation and decision-making processes.

SIV works closely with State and Federal Government sectors, the Victorian Fisheries Authority, environmental and community groups, scientists and academics, other marine users (particularly VRFish), and Victorian communities, on behalf of our members’ best interests.

Our relationships underpin our work and are crucial to meeting our vision for a sustainable and thriving Victorian seafood industry.

Through working together, we can work to ensure Victorian local seafood stays on the menu, that the health and sustainability of the marine environment is managed for future generations, and that support remains for the families, small businesses and coastal communities who depend on marine resources.

Securing access for professional fishers.

Approximately 85% of Australians do not catch their own fish. Instead, they rely on the professional sector to supply a wide range of seafood products throughout the year. Victorian professional fisheries provide consumers with a wonderful source of fresh, local and sustainable product.

The primary focus for SIV is to safeguard the Victorian Seafood Industry and secure access to marine resources for the industry and for seafood consumers.

Without secure access to professional fisheries, this source of nutritious and local produce would not be available to the public. The insecurity of fishing access rights can have devastating effects on hard-working families who have been fishing for generations, small businesses and rural communities who depend on fisheries for their livelihoods, and for whom fishing is a way of life.

A commitment to ecological sustainability.

Seafood Industry Victoria is committed to ecological sustainability and sharing of marine resources among stakeholders. This not only protects the ecosystems fishers rely on, but also protects the livelihoods of fishers themselves in the long term.

SIV believes that the best way to ensure a sustainable future for the marine environment, fisheries resources and Victoria's professional fishers is to use the best available science and use collaborative and equitable processes to manage fisheries. Evidence-based and science-based decisions must be made to ensure transparency and acceptability of fisheries management.

Victorian professional fisheries are legislated under the Victorian Fisheries Act 1995. Professional fisheries are managed through strict input and output controls. Input controls include limits on the number of fishing access licences, gear restrictions, seasonal closures and limits on time fishing. Output controls restrict the fish that can be harvested from a particular fishery and these measures include quota systems, total allowable catch targets, and bycatch limits.

There are annual fisheries management meetings between SIV, fishers, the Victorian Fisheries Authority managers, fisheries scientists and other stakeholders to discuss the status of individual fisheries and assess any management changes that are needed, such as changes to the amount of fish that can be caught each year. Independent scientific analysis and modelling are used to determine limits. Harvest strategies form an essential part of sustainable fisheries management and explicitly set out the objectives, performance indicators, reference levels and harvest control rules.

Over and beyond this, Victorian professional fishers have proactively adopted voluntary measures as an additional sustainability safeguard, and to reduce conflict with other marine users. These include; voluntary codes of practice, environmental management systems (EMS provides a systematic approach to recognising, assessing and mitigating environmental risks facing the fishery), and self-imposed closures or restrictions. Examples include:

• Victorian Bays and Inlets Fisheries Association Environmental Management System

• Code of Practice for Southern Rock Lobster

• Code of Practice for Seine Net Fishing in Corner Inlet

The Status of Australian Fish Stocks (SAFS) brings together available biological, catch and effort information to determine the status of Australia’s key wild catch fish stocks against a nationally agreed reporting framework.

SAFS provides a scientifically robust and simple tool to inform fishers, seafood consumers, managers, policymakers and the broader community about the status of the key wild-caught fish stocks around Australia. Many of the main target fish species are assessed in the report and are broken down to the specific fishery in each state. Over one hundred leading Australian fisheries researchers produced the species chapters in 2018 and a further forty scientists anonymously reviewed these.

Of the Australian catch reported in the Status of Australian fish stocks reports 2018, 90.5 per cent is from sustainable stocks, 3.1 per cent is from transitional–depleting stocks, 4.6 per cent is from transitional–recovering stocks, 0.8 per cent is from overfished stocks, 1 per cent is from undefined stocks and 0.00 per cent is from the stocks classed as negligible.

This is extraordinary when compared on the global stage, and a testament to the environmental stewardship of Australian fishers and good management of fisheries. Acknowledging that Australia has not always had an enviable fisheries record, in the past decade decisive action has been taken to address overfishing and inappropriate fishing practices, which has resulted in the significant recovery of depleted fish stocks.

Find out how your favourite fish species is faring here - www.fish.gov.au

“Australians have excellent reasons to have faith in their fisheries management and to consume Australian seafood with confidence and enthusiasm”
International fisheries scientist Professor Ray Hilborn, University of Washington

The professional fishing industry is highly engaged in fisheries science. Fishermen provide essential data every time they go to sea; recording their catch, how much time they spend at sea, where they fish, and the type/amount of gear used. These data are used to monitor the status of fish stocks and are used as indicators for marine ecosystem health.

Fishers are also engaged as partners and provide essential information and data for Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) projects. These projects are on a range of topics, including improving understanding of the biology of species and interactions within marine ecosystems, improving ecological management and sustainability of fisheries, disease in marine species, habitat regeneration, new technologies, bycatch reduction strategies, and the impacts of climate change.