Owner Grant Logue was invited to Taronga Zoo where MSC presented him with the Community Champion Award for proactively working to protect oceans to ensure seafood is available for future generations.

"Every year the MSC run Sustainable Seafood Week but this week it is running for three weeks leading into Easter," he said.

"It is all about promoting sustainable seafood. They do awards every year along with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council which deals with fish farming and prawn farming."

Read more: Harley and Johns the first in NSW to get Blue Fish Tick for sustainable seafood

Harley & Johns Seafood's award application was considered by 15 industry judges.

"It was the first time we entered and it was such an honour to receive the award," Mr Logue said.

The presentation was Taronga's seal show sponsored by MSC to promote a sustainable seafood message to one million people a year.

Mr Logue said the daily seal shows are seen as a great opportunity for MSC to emphasis how important it is that there is always enough food in the ocean for seals and other marine wildlife.

He said he was going to use the national recognition for Harley & Johns to spread the word about the importance of sustainable seafood practices in the Illawarra.

"I think it is going to be good for the area if we can run some events at local restaurants such as Diggies and help educate and encourage the community," he said.

"And we are running a program in a local school (St Columbkille's) which is helping us design a mural to paint on the shop. That is all about educating children because they are the ones who are going to be the custodians of the ocean in years to come."

Mr Logue is looking to roll the program out to more primary schools and said it was important for him to promote MSC and the work it is doing.

"It is all about starting conversations and letting people know where they can get information."

Mr Logue said growing up by the sea and swimming, surfing and sailing in the ocean since childhood has always made him conscious about the importance of looking after the marine environment. He said educating his customers was one way of doing that.

"And the more pressure our customers put on us to get more sustainable seafood the more pressure I can put on the government and local fishers about their practices. It is important to get everyone talking about it."

Mr Logue said he was always looking for more new sustainable seafood products to come online.

"There are fisheries all over Australia looking at doing it. If the demand is there it gives the fishers that much more incentive to do it."

Mr Logue is also looking at what he can do to reduce plastic consumption in his shop.

He said the representatives from national companies he met at the awards ceremony were very interested in what he is doing in Wollongong. And asked how they could help him promote sustainable seafood in the region.

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