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Fair catch: know your seafood
Proudly local: Sea Salt on seafood labelling and transparency.
[Music starts. Joshua Cook appears on screen sitting in a kitchen talking to the camera, various shots both zoomed in and out.]
Josh: A lot of people don't know where their fish comes from. The new seafood labelling laws, it's part of the education process. We've been waiting for this for a long time.
[Music continues. View of a boat, followed by various boats and pier.]
[A seafood dish with text appearing atop the image showing ‘seafood country of origin labelling’ with the sound of scribbling with texta.]
[Josh talking to the camera in the kitchen as text in the lower left corner appears showing ‘Josh “Cookie” Cook, Fishmonger, Sea Salt’.]
Josh: Sea Salt is a fish and chip shop, bit more of the higher end, I guess. We call it fine dining in a box.
[Shopfront shows server handing customer fish and chips in a takeaway container. Josh talking to the camera in the kitchen. Sea Salt signage shown on building. Close-up of menu.]
Josh: Sea Salt is 3 shops locally in the Coffs Harbour area. We have the main one which is here in Toormina where the whole fish comes in, we break it down and it gets sent out to our other shops, Coffs Harbour and Woolgoolga.
[Josh is in the kitchen and various shots show him start to prepare a fish for serving.]
[Close-up of shirt with Sea Salt logo is shown. Penny standing with a colleague behind a counter showing seafood to customer. Phil standing on pier with other workers moving trays of seafood and talking to others.]
Josh: The owners of Sea Salt, Penny is the glue that keeps us all together and Phil is the man that goes on the wharf and deals with the fishermen.
[Josh talking to the camera in the kitchen.]
Josh: Predominantly 98% of our fish comes locally through Coffs Harbour.
[A boat with a man tying up a fishing bag, a Sea Salt staff carrying a tray of seafood. Josh talking to the camera in the kitchen.]
Josh: There's always certain products that you can't get in Australia or at a certain price point.
[Deep fryer with seafood cooking, close-up of menu, staff member taking orders behind counter. Josh talking to camera in the kitchen. Various close-ups of seafood being displayed.]
Josh: We get Ora king salmon, which is a New Zealand product. It's one of the best salmons in the southern hemisphere.
[Music changes. Back of a Sea Salt jumper against a pier, a seagull. Josh talking to camera in the kitchen.]
[Three seafood dishes on a bench. Animated graphic of page turning. Text appears atop of the image showing ‘A – Australian, I – Imported, M – mixed’, along with the sound of writing texta.]
Josh: Compliance is really quite easy. If it's from Australia, put an A. If it's imported, put an I. If it's mixed, it's as easy as putting an M.
[Josh talking to the camera in the kitchen. Close-up showing ‘A’ and ‘I’ being added to a white board menu, kitchen showing seafood being prepared, close-ups of various seafood dishes.]
Josh: Basically everything needs to be labelled from a purchaser's point of view, a wholesaler's point of view. This has been coming for a long time. We do it because we want to show people how proud we are of what we do.
[Penny holds a poster in front of her which reads ‘seafood country of origin, A – Australian, I – Imported, M – Mixed’ and points to it. Various angles show her being recorded for social media and those filming her. Josh talking to the camera in the kitchen.]
Josh: We find social media very important. It's a great tool for transparency. We've got nothing to hide.
[Close-up of woman standing in front of menu and gesturing to it. Close-up of server at shop front, server handing food over to customer. Josh talking to the camera in the kitchen. Customer talking to Penny in Sea Salt.]
Josh: Transparency is what we're about basically and championing local product. We're proud to be compliant with this legislation.
[Various seafood dishes being cooked, and prepared. Josh and Penny standing side by side with arms around each other in front of the Sea Salt business name.]
Josh: This law puts the decision back into the customer's hands. It's about time that customers got to understand where their product comes from.
[An animated line appears that expands into a rectangle. Inside, a magnifying glass with a small fish inside appears next to text showing ‘Learn more at business.gov.au/seafoodlabels.’ A mouse click sound.]
[The video ends with the Australian Government coat of arms. Music stops.]
End of transcript.
For over 13 years, Sea Salt Fish and Chips has operated as a ‘fine dining in a box’ staple across 3 locations in Toormina, Coffs Harbour and Woolgoolga in northern New South Wales. Sourcing fish directly from local dayboats at the jetty, the business has built its entire reputation on a foundation of local quality and consumer trust.
‘Everyone likes to know where their fish is coming from,’ says Joshua Cook, head fishmonger at Sea Salt. ‘Country of origin seafood labelling laws have been coming for a long time. It really wasn’t a hard process for us to be compliant. We put a lot of time and effort into sourcing particular fish species at certain times of the year, and we do it because we are proud of what we do.’
From 1 July 2026, country of origin labelling laws are mandatory for all hospitality venues, from high-end restaurants to local fish and chip shops, to clearly state where their seafood comes from.
At the heart of these requirements is the AIM model, a straightforward labelling system designed to bring transparency to the seafood counter. While some operators may worry about the administrative burden of new compliance rules, early adopters like Sea Salt prove that embracing the AIM framework is not just simple – it is incredibly good for business.
The AIM model eliminates consumer guesswork by requiring a single letter label with a legend or clear text designation next to any seafood item on a menu or display board. It breaks down into 3 simple categories:
- A – Australian
- I – imported
- M – mixed, meaning it contains both Australian and imported seafood.
‘It’s pretty straightforward, and customers love it,’ Joshua says. ‘They’re happy to have something that’s so plain and easy to understand. From supplier to purchaser, it streamlines the whole process.’
Compliance is really quite easy. We’re proud to be compliant with these rules. Transparency is what we’re about and championing local product.
Demystifying the AIM model
‘Basically, everything’s still the same for us on the menus, except for the A, the I, the M. You change your menu seasonally anyway, and it’s easy to pop in a letter beside a seafood dish,’ Joshua explains.
‘Compliance is really quite easy. We’re proud to be compliant with these rules. Transparency is what we’re about and championing local product.’
Truth on the hook
The new laws put the power back into the hands of the customer by providing clarity around whether seafood is local or imported, or a mix of both.
‘There’s always certain products that you can’t get in Australia or at a certain price point,’ Joshua explains. ‘Going to a wharf to get whole fish won’t fit everyone’s business model, that’s completely understandable and it is okay to use imported if you need to.
‘We use New Zealand hoki as our standard in fish and chips, and we also get the Ōra King salmon from New Zealand. It’s one of the best salmons in the southern hemisphere so we get that shipped over.
‘It’s about transparency and letting people know where their product has come from.’
This has been coming for a long time. We put a lot of time and effort into sourcing particular fish species at certain times of the year, and we do it because we are proud of what we do.
Taking away the guesswork
For business owners nervous about backend logistics, tracking origin information is manageable.
‘It’s basically as simple as keeping a record once a product comes in – simple as that,’ Joshua explains. ‘If a delivered box arrives without clear markings, make a quick phone call to your supplier’s sales representative to request written clarification. Keep those records on hand and it’s literally that easy.’
Joshua and the team at Sea Salt are enthusiastic about the positive impact country of origin seafood labelling has had on their business.
‘This law puts the decision back into the customer’s hands. It’s about time that customers got to understand where their product comes from, where their fish and chips come from,’ Joshua says.
‘We have so many good memories of eating fish and chips, and to know that fish is Australian or it is imported, just to have that concreted into our culture, it’s a great thing.’
Further information
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Learn more about the seafood labelling laws and how your business can comply.
Seafood labelling laws have changed for hospitality businesses