When it comes to seafood, the term “sustainable” means that a fish has been caught with both the long-term future of the species and the health of the oceans in mind. Put simply, seafood that is sustainable is better for both you and the planet.
Wren’s family owned business has been practicing sustainable fishing for many years. The Family goal has always been to have a fishery that can produce food for the nation for years to come. With this is mind David and Frank have worked hard and made personal and financial sacrifices to make this possible.
In 2009 David and Frank set about to purchase the entire Queensland fishery which they worked in. They set about slowly with a plan in mind, borrowed money, scrimped and saved and purchased every single N9 licence that was available. With this done – they unbelievably approached Queensland Fisheries ( DAF) and made a deal – They handed in 3 full N9 licences – thus reducing the effort available in the fishery by half. Queensland Fisheries (DAF) were over the moon – here were Fishermen regulating themselves!!! Queensland Fisheries made a decision to call the new reduced fishery the N12 fishery.
The N12 fishery is 100% owned by Wren Fishing and contains 3 boats and 3 licences. David and Frank knew from long experience of being at sea and catching fish – that reducing fishing effort early on would undoubtable enable the fishery to reproduce and sustain itself for years to come.
This has proved itself over and over with every year the Wren’s 3 main boats catching the same amount of product – with no hint of a decline in fish stocks.
The Wren boats and licences still follow all the rules of Queensland Fisheries (DAF) they use gear that does not interact with the ocean bottom, they have minimal bycatch ( they set out to catch Mackerel and the majority of their catch is Mackerel) , it is extremely rare for there to be any interaction with any endangered species and this is all monitored by Queensland Fisheries. They also have a closed season when the boats are not allowed to work.
During the closed season the Wren boats move to the Northern Territory and David and Frank buy mackerel quota so they can keep the supply of fish available to the market. The Northern Territory Fishery moved to a quota system in 2020 thus controlling the amount of mackerel that can be taken from their waters.
You can rest assured when you eat Wren Mackerel you are definitely eating sustainable seafood