Locally-caught seafood sustainable: report

A new report has found the vast majority of Australia's seafood stocks are sustainable but there are some problem areas.

The vast majority of Australia's seafood stocks are sustainable, a scientific study has found. (AAP)

An extensive scientific check of Australia's fish has found most of the stocks are sustainable.

The 2018 Status of Australian Fish Stock Reports assessed 120 species made up of 406 stocks across finfish, crustaceans, molluscs and sharks and rays.

Overall, almost 80 per cent of the 406 stocks were able to be assessed and of those almost 85 per cent were sustainable or recovering.

However, scientists warn while most of the stocks are doing well, managers and fishers cannot rest on their past performance, as fish stocks are constantly changing and require constant monitoring.

All five of Australia's prawn species were assessed as sustainable, as were whiting and rock lobsters.

However, 23 stocks were found to be depleting and 29 as "overfished", but all have recovery management plans in place that aim to rebuild the stocks.

Among the overfished species are black bream, commercial scallop and gemfish, according to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation reports.