At Wild Life Fisheries we hand harvest our catch, meaning there is no by catch and very minimal disruption to the surrounding ecosystem. We fish to strict quota limits, size limits and catch locations which are set by Victorian Fisheries Authority as part of our licences and permits. These mandatory regulations are in place to ensure the sustainability of the individual fishery. We focus our efforts over a range of reef systems to avoid over fishing and to allow for future fishing seasons.

Whilst sea urchins are native to Port Phillip Bay, there is currently an over abundance in certain areas of the Bay. As such, the urchins are causing havoc to the native habitats, wiping out kelp forest and leaving reef systems barren. We hope that by harvesting our sea urchins we are assisting in population control and thereby contributing to reef restoration in the Bay. We also harvest wakame (Undaria pinatifida) from Port Phillip Bay. Wakame is a brown seaweed that is native to Japan and Korea and is used as food product. It is a fast growing, highly invasive marine pest and is thought to pose a threat to the Victorian marine environment. The good news is, unlike many problematic invasive species, this one in particular is edible and actually tastes delicious. We have been harvesting wakame to supply toinnovative restaurants and seafood suppliers who are interested in growing the demand for this product.

We are continually striving to better our practices and always looking for ways to have less of an impact on the environment. We trialled various packaging methods and have come up with what we think is a great alternative to traditional seafood packaging. In the past, seafood has typically been packed into single use polystyrene boxes which, once unpacked are not easily recycled.If our product isn't packed in re-usable fish bins then we pack into a fully recyclable insulated cardboard box. Our ice packs and packing tape are home compostable too!