One of Australia's most dangerously overfished species, redfish (Centroberyx affinis), will continue to be served on our dinner table as its latest listing of 'Conservation Dependent' is a loophole allowing species which qualify for critically endangered listings and protections to instead be killed and sold for seafood.
Adrian Meder, Sustainable Seafood Program Manager the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), said, "Redfish was an Australian seafood staple for over three decades, until the mid 2000's when the results of unrelenting overfishing finally surfaced. The persistent overfishing of species to the brink of extinction is why Australian consumers find it increasingly difficult to source affordable, locally caught fish."
The Environment Minister's decision comes despite the Threatened Species Scientific Committee's advice to Minister Murray Watt which recommended the redfish be listed as critically endangered:
"The main factor contributing to redfish being eligible for listing in the Critically Endangered category is a very severe reduction of >96% in population size over the past three generations during 1974-2023, and the cause of this reduction, mortality caused from fishing for the species, has not ceased." [1]
Historical overfishing and ongoing management settings has wiped out 97% of the redfish population in Australia because of rules set by the Commonwealth Australian Fisheries Management Authority and New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. The latest 2026 government assessment states that it is uncertain whether continued overfishing is occurring[2]: "Historical assessments have projected stock rebuilds that did not occur, and there is no confidence that the stock will rebuild with the level of mortality applied in 2024-25 fishing season (21.4 t). Accordingly, redfish is classified as uncertain for fishing mortality."
Mr Meder said, "Redfish joins six other species from the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery tossed into this commercial loophole category that allows fishing to continue. To date, none have recovered enough to be taken off this list – a dire indictment of the stewardship of this fishery.
"The conservation dependent loophole applies only to fish, treating a critically endangered fish as an acceptable food choice; ok to catch, kill and sell. We don't sell endangered sea turtles. Australians don't want to eat endangered seafood either.
"With only 3% of the redfish population thought to be still in existence, this former mainstay of regional fisheries is at real risk of local or functional extinction, from which recovery may not be possible. The last thing we should be doing is applying loopholes facilitating continued catch and sale of redfish while the species is in peril."
Redfish have been listed under national nature laws, while five shark and ray species found nowhere else in the world are still waiting. Minister Murray Watt has just under 90 business days to classify the whitefin swellshark, Australian longnose skate, grey skate, eastern angelshark, greeneye spurdog. AMCS is urging the Minister to listen to the independent science, not the fisheries management agency that stood by while these species were fished close to extinction.
[1] Department of Climate Change, (2024) Consultation on Species Listing Eligibility and Conservation Actions Centroberyx affinis (redfish)
[2] Cottrell RS, Butler I, Patterson H, Bromhead D, Currey R, Curtotti R, Galeano D, Timmiss T, Woodhams J, 2026. Fishery status reports 2026. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra, DOI: https://doi.org/10.25814/pxqc-4z81 CC BY 4.0.
