Around
the world,
many traditional fisheries are threatened with collapse, due to unsustainable
fishing practises and habitat destruction.
Some fisheries, however, remain healthy and productive due to succesful management,
responsible harvesting and advances in contained fish farming.
You can help support sustainable fisheries with
the choices you make at the restaurant or the seafood counter.
900,000 - Metric tons of wasted fish - 28% of the annual catch - that gets tossed overboard because they are not the desired species.
4 kilograms - of 'bycatch' discarded by Gulf Coast shrimpers for each kilo of shrimp kept.
Source: USA Today
fishing method - hook and line, for example, is preferred to trawling; on-shore fish farming is safer than net pens in the open water; string and rack shellfish farming is preferred to ground culture.
bycatch - wasted catch of fish other than the target species.
impact on natural habitat - spawning grounds, sea bottom, kelp beds require protection.
management initiatives - which increase the odds of fisheries remaining sustainable.
Better Choices
Anchovies
Arctic Char
Bluefish
Catfish (farmed)
Clams
Crab: Blue, Dungeness, King
Crawfish
Dogfish
Hake
Halibut (Pacific)
Herring (Atlantic)
Mackerel: Atlantic, Spanish
Mussels (Black, Green-lipped)
Octopus (Pacific)
Oysters (farmed)
Pacific Black Cod (sablefish)
Pacific Cod (pot or jig caught)
Pollack (Alaska)
Prawns (trap-caught, Pacific)
Rock Lobster (Australian)
Salmon (Wild Alaskan)
Sardines (Pacific)
Scallops (Bay - farmed)
Shrimp (US farmed)
Squid (Pacific)
Striped Bass (hybrid)
Sturgeon (farmed)
Tilapia (farmed)
Tuna: Pacific Albacore
Uni (sea urchin)
Moderate Risk
Flounder: "Summer Flounder"
Fluke
Lingcod
Lobster (Atlantic)
Mahi Mahi or Dorado
Octopus (Atlantic)
Prawns (US farmed or wild)
Rainbow Trout (farmed)
Salmon (wild from WA, OR, BC Canada)
Scallops (Sea, Bay wild)
Shrimp (domestic, trawl-caught)
Snow Crab
Sole (Pacific)
Squid (Atlantic)
Swordfish (Pacific)
Tuna: Yellowfin or skipjack
Best to Avoid
Alaska King Crab
Atlantic Cod
Caviar (wild sturgeon)
Grouper
Haddock (Atlantic)
Halibut (Atlantic)
Hoki (Atlantic, New Zealand)
Monkfish
Orange Roughy
Pacific Rockfish (Rock Cod)
Pollack (Atlantic)
Prawns (imported, tiger)
Red Snapper
Salmon (farmed worldwide)
Scrod
Seabass: Chilean
Shark: all species
Skate
Sturgeon (wild)
Swordfish (Atlantic)
Tuna: Bluefin
Turbot
Yellowtail Flounder
Information Sources:
UN Food and Agricultural Organization
Institute for Fisheries Resources
Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch
Marine Stewardship Council
Tips
~
Try to choose shellfish grown on farms using racks,
lines or nets which are suspended in the water. These methods minimize
damage to bottom habitat during harvesting.
~ Striped Bass, a well-managed Atlantic coast
species, can be used as a substitute for some depleted species, such as
Black Sea Bass, Rock Cod, Red Snapper, Grouper and Roughy.
~ Farmed Crawfish make an excellent substitute
for Lobster, which, although plentiful are often harvested at minimum
size - before having a chance at reproduction.
~ Seafoods can be contaminated with mercury, PCB's and other pollutants.
Contaminants are mostly stored in fatty tissue, so grilling
and broiling when cooking fish is recommended to allow fats and
juices to drain away. Deep-frying can seal in toxins which may be stored
in fat. In general, cooking fish, as opposed to easting it raw, can reduce
contaminant levels by about 30%.
~ Ask your local seafood dealer or restauranteur
about the source and catch-method of your seafood choices. Consumer concern
is the best promoter of sustainable fisheries.
Plastic trash can injure and kill marine animals in our waters and along our shores. Plastic six-pack rings and discarded fishing line can entrap or strangle fish and waterfowl. Marine animals and seabirds can also mistake plastics for real food, ingest them and die.
Don't release balloons into the air; they'll just end up as trash on the ground or in the water, where they are mistaken as food by fish, birds and sea mammals.
Sea turtles, for example, can mistake balloons and plastic bags for jellyfish, a favorite food. For more information, call:
Virginia Institute for Marine Science/Sea Grant Program at (804) 642-7171.
Vital Choice Seafood
Alaska Catch
Pelican Packers
Ecofish
Wildcatch
Alaska WIld Salmon Co.
Mary Lu Seafood
Pacific Albacore
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