New Zealanders want restaurants to supply sustainable seafood... but don't care when they buy it at the supermarket

A Ministry for Primary Industries report has found consumers rank sustainability factors as least important when buying kaimoana.

But another MPI survey shows restaurant owners report customers increasingly ask about where and how their seafood was caught.

NZ Herald Reporter Michael Neilson says environmentalists aren't surprised by this.

He says they feel people are thinking about sustainability, but that price and value dictate how consumers make choices.