David Carter is a man with a mission. As CEO of a leading Australian commercial seafood company, Austral Fisheries, he has supplied highly-prized toothfish and prawns to the world, for four decades.
However, travelling to deep oceans up to 4,000 kilometres off the Australian coast on 120 day fishing trips burns fossil fuels, leaving a carbon footprint.
So in recent years, Mr Carter has focussed on giving back to the environment. Under his leadership, Austral became the world’s first certified carbon neutral seafood business, in 2016.
“We burn around nine million litres of diesel each year. That’s the majority of our emissions. And in total, we are about a 40,000 ton a year carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter,” he tells SBS Small Business Secrets.
“We figured that our 40,000 tons or so of carbon emissions could be offset, by planting trees.”
Austral tree planting north of Perth Source: Supplied David Carter
So far, his company has planted more than one million Australian natives, sourced from local seeds, on degraded farmland in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor, four hours north of Perth, in Western Australia.
“The land that we are recovering is really broken agricultural land that itself has suffered the effects of climate change and some level of abuse,” he says.
“So it's kind of the win-win for us. We get to clean up the mess we made burning diesel. And the funds were used to buy credits, go into recreating ecosystems at scale, in an important part of Western Australia.”
It’s not the only change Austral is managing this year. COVID-19 restrictions have impacted global exports, mainly of the highly prized toothfish.
“When COVID-19 shut the global restaurant trade, consumption dried up overnight,” he says.
“Our main customers are in the USA and China, but as restaurants closed, our customers had high inventories of fish that were not going anywhere.”
During the peak of COVID toothfish prices fell, by up to 40 per cent in some markets, and Austral’s market volume halved. Previously, Austral had exported 1,000 tonnes of toothfish each year to China, and during the past year that dropped to 500 tonnes.
Like many Australian exporters, David Carter sought advice from Austrade - The Australian Trade and Investment Commission.
Austrade's Global Engagement Manager Chloe You. Source: Supplied Chloe You
"The Austrade machine, given its geographical spread, can be really handy in opening doors,” Mr Carter says.
“South Korea is a market where we're not particularly well connected. We think there's an opportunity there, and certainly through the rest of Southeast Asia.”
Through its $72 million AgriBusiness Expansion Initiative, Austrade offers market intelligence on consumer trends and preferences, and also facilitates introductions to new opportunities and new business partners.
Austrade’s Global Engagement Manager Chloe You explains: “With onshore and offshore teams, we help to prioritise markets so that exporters like Austral can focus their investments in not only the products but the human capital as well.
“And it is not only Asian markets, but around the world. For example, we presented at Spanish seafood exhibition, which may open opportunities in European markets as well.”
Mr Carter graduated from Melbourne University in 1978 with a science degree, specialising in marine zoology. His goal for the fishing company is to harvest sustainably, while protecting toothfish stocks for the future.
“Toothfish is now in good shape. But the early part of this fishery was notorious, for the interest it attracted from illegal fishermen.
“So part of our operation is tagging and releasing fish. In that way, we actively contribute to the understanding and research.
“That's the stuff that gets me out of bed in the morning, after 44 years in this business,” he says.
New machinery used to control portion size, reducing waste at the factory, is another method.
“We have different shapes come off a toothfish fillet, and this machine has allowed us to produce them all at the same weight, which not something that a human can do.”
Austral’s ongoing commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, also means reducing its reliance on fossil fuels.
A model of Austral's new electric fishing vessel. Source: SBS
“In the long term, we have to stop using diesel which will become increasingly socially unacceptable, while costs of offsets get more prohibitive. So there's a really strong drive for us to invest now in ways to reduce fuel use.
“So, last year we took delivery of a Norwegian designed and built harbored electric fishing vessel, which cost us in the order of $50 million,” Mr Carter says.
“We are really happy with the fuel savings that we're seeing there. So that's the future.”
