Why is it easier to buy imported tuna in an Australian supermarket than tuna caught off our own coast?

Heidi Walker, co-founder of Walker's Seafood and Walker's Tuna, explains why. Australia exports about 70% of the seafood it catches and imports about 70% of what it eats. Local fishers pay Australian wages and Australian fuel prices, and they compete against subsidised foreign fleets fishing the high seas with few rules. The country also has no scaled seafood canning facility left.

Heidi and her husband Pavo started with one of the oldest wooden tuna boats on the East Coast and no experience. They built Australia's largest wild-caught tuna company and became the first Australian tuna business to earn MSC certification. Now Walker's Tuna is the first Australian MSC-certified tuna stocked by a major supermarket, and it is in every Coles in the country.

This episode is proudly presented by Seaway Logistics, local experts in global trade.

In this episode:

• Why imported tuna dominates Australian shelves, and what it costs to send one boat to sea ($70,000 a trip)
• The last tank of fuel and the recycled fishing line that saved the business
• How one swordfish for George Calombaris started a direct-to-chef strategy
• What MSC certification actually proves, and why "line-caught" or "small boat" doesn't automatically mean sustainable
• Creating a preserved albacore with Neil Perry, packed in Australian cold-pressed olive oil
• Why the product is made in Thailand, and why that isn't a compromise
• The proposed marine park that Heidi says could push Australians toward more imported fish

About Walker's Seafood and Walker's Tuna

Walker's Seafood Australia is a family-owned wild-caught tuna and swordfish business based in Mooloolaba, Queensland, founded by Heidi and Pavo Walker. It started with one old wooden boat and now runs four vessels in the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery, supplying chefs across Australia and exporting to the US and Japan.

In 2015, Walker's became the first Australian tuna company to achieve MSC certification, the global standard for sustainable wild-caught seafood. Every boat carries 24/7 cameras and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority monitors them.

Walker's Tuna is the company's preserved range: Australian albacore in Australian cold-pressed olive oil, sold in jars and foil-lined pouches and developed with Neil Perry. It is the first Australian tuna stocked by a major supermarket, and it's available in every Coles nationally, around 200 Woolworths stores and independent grocers. Food service packs and frozen saku and poke cuts are also available for chefs.

Links

• Walker's Seafood Australia: https://walkerstuna.com/
• Walkers on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/walkerseafoods 
• Heidi Walker on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-walker-2b98b1123/
• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): https://www.msc.org/en-us/for-business/supply-chain-companies/get-certified
• AFMA, Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery: https://www.afma.gov.au/

Learn More & Connect with Seaway Logistics

• Website: https://www.seaway.com.au/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seawaygroup

Australian tuna, albacore tuna, MSC certified tuna, sustainable seafood Australia, imported seafood, Walker's Tuna, Heidi Walker, Pavo Walker, Mooloolaba, preserved tuna, freight logistics  

About Straight To The Source

Straight To The Source brings you closer to the chefs, producers, growers and makers across the entire food chain- the people shaping where food is headed and why it matters. Hosted by food experts Tawnya Bahr and Lucy Allon.

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