Coorong Wild Seafood has been a leader in the local industry in terms of sustainability. These are just some examples of what we do;

1. Minimisation of non-reusable plastics and related materials.This is difficult with the need to put fish on transport but we are endeavouring to remove (minimise), reduce, reuse and recycle packaging where practical and affordable.  Some packaging is quite expensive and our fish are not high value, thereby the ability to absorb costs or charge out to customers is limited.

   a. No longer use foam trays in our vac packs
   b. Transitioning to Compostable vac packing bags
   c. Reusing foam boxes by collecting from customers either on delivery or swapping out each week. That way we can keep them clean and sanitised for reuse without the need for plastic liners.
   d. Removing use of foam boxes in many cases by using reusable eskies.  This only works for fish delivered by us and not on transport. No way to get eskies back.

2. Food Miles

   a. Fish is caught less than 150km from Adelaide and delivered every Thursday or sent on seafood transport passing through Meningie Tuesday weekly
   b. Fishing occurs within 12 to 20kms from Meningie
   c. Boat operates within 1-2 kms from shore
   d. The boat is only used to get to the nets, the pulling of the nets is done manually and uses no fuel

3. There is no food waste from our premises.

   a.  Following processing waste material is currently sorted and frozen into blocks for fishing bait products- Mullet heads – Blue Crab bait
   - Carp frames, heads and skins to Rock Lobster Bait
   - All other species heads, frames and guts to Rock Lobster Bait

   b.  Non target species like salmon trout vac packed and frozen for recreational bait

4. Engaging with sustainable harvesting practice

   a. The Lakes and Coorong Fishery was the 3rd in Australia and 27th in the world to achieve MSC certification in 2008 and is currently undergoing recertification for a third time.
   b. Fishing is active and minimal to no-bycatch is caught with our target species
   c. Installed 25kw solar system on our processing factory and 5kw on home which allows to be almost self-sufficient in power use
   d. Installation of air curtains on the cool room door openings minimises loss of cold air
   e.  We make our own bulk ice for fishing and transport of product, so no ice purchased in plastic bags or plastic ice packs

5. Capturing and using 45,000 litres of rainwater
6. Trying to establish a domestic market for value added carp products so that we can control carp population in the Murray darling river system through harvest and utilisation. Some highly creative chefs are making some great dishes and we would like to see the use expanded. Come and take a tasting tour to try them.