David Carter has worked his entire career at Austral Fisheries and its predecessors. After graduating from Melbourne University in 1978 with a Marine Science degree, David’s first job was as a Deckhand on a prawn trawler off the coast of Darwin. This was the beginning of what has been a 44-year career in the fishing industry.

David has a strong commitment to sustainable, science-based fisheries management. He has helped numerous fisheries achieve sustainability certifications with the Marine Stewardship Council; campaigned and battled against Patagonian toothfish poachers to completely eradicate them from Australian toothfish fisheries; collaborated with NGOs such as WWF to improve global seafood sustainability standards, and in 2016, led Austral Fisheries to become the first carbon neutral seafood company in the world.

David was inducted into the National Seafood Industry Hall of Fame in 2012, and in 2020 he received the Marine Stewardship Council’s Lifetime Achievement award.