What food science, marketing and consumer psychology can teach us about rebuilding trust in seafood.
Walk into an Australian seafood shop and you may be confronted by an extraordinary array of choices.
Fresh or frozen? Wild-caught or farmed? Australian or imported? Sustainable or certified? Salmon or Barramundi? A familiar species or something you have never cooked before?
For many consumers, buying seafood has become unnecessarily complicated.
Yet seafood should be one of the most enjoyable and accessible parts of a healthy Australian diet. We are surrounded by extraordinary aquatic food resources, supported by generations of fishing, aquaculture, culinary experience and scientific research.
So why do we make buying and eating seafood so difficult?
An intriguing discussion hosted by the Australian Academy of Science on 25 August 2026 offers some useful clues.
As part of its Bright Minds, Bold Voices series, food writer and broadcaster Adam Liaw joined food and nutrition scientist Dr Emma Beckett for “Food, Science and the Stories We Swallow.” Moderated by ABC Canberra's Lish Fejer, the event explored how biology, psychology, culture and messaging influence what people eat.
Although the discussion was about food generally, its themes have important implications for seafood consumers.
And they raise a fundamental question: are we buying seafood for what it actually is, or for the story we have been encouraged to believe?
The intimidation factor
Many Australians are comfortable cooking chicken, beef or pasta, but hesitate when confronted with an unfamiliar fish.
Will it taste too strong? Does it have bones? How long should it be cooked? Will I ruin an expensive purchase?
The result can be a surprisingly narrow range of seafood choices.
Consumers may repeatedly buy familiar products while overlooking other nutritious, affordable and enjoyable species.
This is not simply a question of individual confidence. It is also an education problem.
The seafood industry has invested considerable effort in catching, growing, processing and selling its products. But has it and the government invested enough in teaching people how to buy and prepare them?
Imagine every seafood counter offering clear species names, straightforward cooking instructions and honest advice about value.
A customer purchasing an unfamiliar fish should be able to leave knowing three things: what it is, where it came from and how to prepare it successfully.
That is not an unreasonable expectation. It should be normal practice.
Nutrition should not require a marketing degree
Food marketing frequently reduces complex nutritional questions to fashionable claims.
One nutrient becomes a selling point. One ingredient becomes a villain. One product is promoted as a miracle food.
Seafood is not immune.
Omega-3 fatty acids are important, but seafood offers more than omega-3 alone. Depending on the species and preparation, it can provide high-quality protein and valuable nutrients such as vitamin B12, iodine, selenium and vitamin D.
We should also remember that nutritious seafood need not be expensive.
Sardines, Mussels, Blue Mackerel and many other seafood products can make valuable contributions to balanced diets without extravagant advertising claims.
Frozen and canned seafood also deserve greater recognition. Convenience, affordability and nutritional value are not mutually exclusive.
Our objective should be to help Australians enjoy an appropriate variety of seafood as part of their regular diet, while respecting individual health advice, allergies and applicable food-safety guidance.
The message is simple: good nutrition comes from informed dietary choices, not from chasing the latest food fashion.
The story on the label
There is another, more troubling aspect of food storytelling.
Consumers encounter words and images that suggest freshness, locality, authenticity, environmental responsibility or superior quality.
Some claims are useful and well substantiated.
Others may be ambiguous, difficult to verify or simply misunderstood.
A picture of an Australian fishing boat does not, by itself, establish that the seafood was caught in Australian waters.
A familiar fish name does not necessarily tell the buyer which species is being sold.
A sustainability claim may address a particular environmental issue without answering every question about origin, labour conditions, food safety or traceability.
And an attractive restaurant description cannot substitute for accurate information about the seafood actually served.
This is why the Seafood Consumers Association continues to advocate for clear fish names, meaningful country-of-origin information, effective traceability and independent verification of claims.
Consumers should not need to become investigators every time they order fish and chips.
Trust is earned through evidence
One of the most important lessons from food science communication is that information must be both accurate and understandable.
Providing consumers with more labels, logos and technical terminology does not necessarily make them better informed.
The essential question is whether the information helps people make a sound decision.
For seafood, that means moving beyond reassuring language towards evidence that can be checked.
Where was the product harvested or produced? Is the species correctly identified? Are claims about its characteristics supported? Can its movement through the supply chain be traced? Are relevant safety and sustainability requirements being met?
These questions are central to the broader challenge of seafood fraud and misrepresentation.
They also explain why education alone is not enough.
We can teach consumers to ask better questions, but businesses and regulators must ensure that truthful answers are available.
Consumer responsibility cannot become an excuse for industry opacity.
Rebuilding the confidence to enjoy seafood
There is an opportunity here for the entire seafood sector.
We can make seafood more accessible by combining practical cooking knowledge with trustworthy product information.
We can promote the nutritional value of ordinary seafood without exaggeration.
We can help consumers discover unfamiliar species rather than relying on a handful of heavily marketed products.
We can strengthen confidence through accurate names, transparent sourcing and effective enforcement.
And we can involve chefs, educators, researchers, retailers and consumer organisations in making seafood knowledge part of everyday Australian life.
These principles underpin SCA's work to improve consumer understanding and our development of I-CADMUS, an educational initiative addressing seafood fraud, authenticity and trust.
They will also inform our proposed Seafood Buyer's Guide, designed to help people navigate seafood choices with confidence.
A better seafood story
The answer is not to abandon storytelling.
Stories help people understand food, remember experiences and connect with producers, places and traditions.
A story about a fishing family, an aquaculture innovation or a traditional seafood dish can enrich our appreciation of what we eat.
But the story must be anchored in facts.
It must not obscure the identity of the seafood, exaggerate its benefits or conceal information that matters to the buyer.
The Australian Academy of Science's discussion is a useful reminder that food choices are shaped by far more than nutritional tables and price tags.
For seafood, the challenge is to make science understandable, cooking approachable and product information trustworthy.
Consumers should not have to choose between enjoying their food and trusting the information that comes with it.
Good seafood deserves good science, honest names, practical cooking advice and a story that stands up to scrutiny.
Further viewing: Australian Academy of Science, Bright Minds, Bold Voices: Food, Science and the Stories We Swallow, 25 August 2026.
Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmLiHq9yCgg
Event information: https://science.org.au/news-events/events/bright-minds-bold-voices/event-2
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