South Australian Fish and Chip shops questioning safety of local seafood amid algae bloom

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Amid a toxic algal bloom crisis South Australian fish and chip shops are fielding questions about the safety of local seafood. It's an issue the state government is trying to tackle with a seven-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars campaign that says "slogan". At the coalface food shop owners are also finding ways to reassure customers.

Transcript

00:00Anthony Selkicevich loves having local seafood on the menu,

00:06but SA's toxic algal bloom has left some customers nervous.

00:10They still will purchase it, but it has dropped 10 to 15 percent.

00:14I wouldn't say a great deal.

00:15Some customers are keen to buy local.

00:18We're not only supporting them,

00:19but we're giving other consumers confidence that it is safe to eat.

00:23We don't have any problems eating the fish.

00:26But others have become wary.

00:27I'd be cautious about wanting to eat the local fish.

00:31We certainly haven't been eating any or buying any seafood since the algal bloom.

00:36Some in the industry feel the media coverage of the algal bloom hasn't helped.

00:41There wasn't the positive side of the messaging

00:44to say that the seafood was safe to eat all that time.

00:48It's left shops arming themselves with details of every catch.

00:51You can see we get it from, it comes from SA Waters.

00:55Thanks.

00:55A US study published in 2023 found long-term messaging about the safety of eating seafood

01:01during a harmful algal bloom does more to sell fish than last-minute reassurance at the counter.

01:08The SA government is injecting $750,000 to get the message out that local seafood is safe.

01:15For the entirety of our coastline, seafood that comes out of it is perfectly safe to eat.

01:20No, I haven't heard that message, yeah, but I would still be cautious, I think.

01:26I don't think it is getting through.

01:29I don't think they're sort of advertising it properly.

01:32Owners like Craig Mackay welcome the move, but appreciate why people might worry.

01:37And that's why it's good that they do ask the questions so that they're informed

01:40and understand that, you know, businesses aren't going to put people's health at risk.

01:44A sign of the times.

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