Imported seafood typically travels 8,000–15,000km to reach you, often by air freight — the highest-emission food transport mode in existence — and arrives weeks old.
Air freight emits roughly 50× the CO₂ per tonne-km of sea freight. Premium imported seafood (sashimi tuna, lobster, fresh salmon) is typically air-freighted to maintain freshness — at enormous emissions cost.
Cheap imported seafood that travels by sea is frozen, thawed, processed, refrozen, shipped, thawed at retail. Each cycle damages texture, releases moisture, and triggers lipid oxidation. The product on the shelf is a shadow of what it could be.
Most Australian seafood travels under 1,000km, by truck or short flight. The freshness advantage is enormous. Tasmanian salmon harvested Tuesday morning is on Sydney plates Wednesday night.