Australian Wild Caught Prawns: Why Christmas Seafood Needs a Consumer Voice

Australians will eat millions of kilos of prawns over the Christmas period. It is one of the great Australian food traditions.

But behind the platters, the advertising and the summer images is a reality most people do not see.

Only a small proportion sold at Christmas are Australian wild caught prawns.

That fact should concern every seafood consumer. It should also sharpen the focus for every commercial fisher who has watched access disappear year after year.

This is exactly why Seafood Society Australia exists.

Not as another industry body. Not as another submission lost in a government process.

Seafood Society Australia is about building consumer power.

And membership is only $10 per year.

The Christmas prawn reality

Australia produces wild caught prawns and farmed prawns but imports now dominate the market. Even in peak periods like Christmas, Australian wild caught prawns make up a much smaller share of total sales than most people assume.

Every closure, every buyback, every restriction that removes a commercial fisher does not reduce demand. It simply creates a gap.

That gap is filled with imported product.

So when people say, “If commercial fishing is removed, sustainability will improve,” they are missing the point. Australians do not stop eating seafood. They just eat seafood sourced elsewhere, under standards Australians have no control over.

That is not an accident. It is the outcome of political pressure.

How we ended up here

For decades, organised recreational fishing and environmental lobby groups have been highly effective at mobilising public pressure.

They show up in consultations. They dominate media narratives. They are visible to politicians.

Meanwhile, the seafood consumer has remained largely silent. Most people assume someone else is speaking on their behalf.

That silence has consequences:

• Commercial fishing access is removed piece by piece.

• Imported seafood quietly replaces local product.

• The public is told it is a “necessary trade-off”.

The imbalance is not because commercial fishers are wrong. It is because the other side has numbers, organisation and visibility.

That is what Seafood Society Australia is designed to fix.

Why consumer power matters more than ever

Governments respond to votes, noise and perceived public mandate.

A small number of well-organised groups can shape policy when the majority stays quiet. That has been the story of fisheries management for years.

Seafood Society Australia turns seafood consumers into a visible constituency.

It says clearly:

• We want access to local seafood.

• We want Australian wild caught fishers on the water.

• We do not accept imports as a default replacement.

That message does not come from industry. It comes from consumers.

And that is far harder to ignore.

A message to commercial fishers

If you are a commercial fisher, this is the most important thing you can do right now outside of your own fishery.

Ask your friends and family to join Seafood Society Australia.

Do not ask them to argue policy. Do not ask them to become experts.

Ask them to join as seafood consumers who care about access, affordability and local supply.

Membership is $10 per year. That is it.

If every fisher got ten people to join, the balance shifts. Quickly.

What was once framed as an “industry issue” becomes a community issue.

What seafood consumers can do this Christmas

If you love seafood, especially prawns at Christmas, there are simple actions that matter:

• Join Seafood Society Australia.

• Ask where your seafood comes from.

• Choose Australian wild caught when it is available.

• Tell others why that choice matters.

These are small actions, but together they build something powerful.

Because when enough consumers stand up and say, “Stop removing the people who feed us,” the political calculation changes.

The choice in front of us

Australia did not lose wild caught seafood because people stopped wanting it.

We lost it because consumer voices were absent while other interests organised.

Seafood Society Australia exists to correct that imbalance.

It is affordable. It is simple. It is driven by consumers, not bureaucracy.

This Christmas, if you value local seafood and the people who catch it, do one thing that actually helps.

Join Seafood Society Australia.

$10 per year.

A consumer voice that cannot be ignored.