Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood

I saw one of these neat little fold-out wallet sized charts yesterday that details sustainable seafood choices. It lists different types of seafood and how sustainable their harvest is AND if they contain harmful levels of toxins. What I really liked about the chart is that is gave an explaination of WHY some of these items are not good to purchase. Since I cannot give each of you one of the charts I figure I could at least link you to a web version of the chart for viewing, printing, or simple reference. I bet if you were to contact the organization they would send some in the mail for you to give to friends and family.

They are backed by the MSC (Marine Sterwardship Council) which is a very respectable organization for sustainable ocean harvest.

Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood

Here is an example of what is on the page:
FISH KEY
Species is relatively abundant, and fishing/farming methods cause little damage to habitat and other wildlife.
Some problems exist with this species' status or catch/farming methods, or information is insufficient for evaluating.
Species has a combination of problems such as overfishing, high bycatch, and poor management; or farming methods have serious environmental impacts.
Species is certified as a best environmental choice by the Marine Stewardship Council. Learn more at www.msc.org.MSCI0239
These fish contain levels of mercury or PCBs that may pose a health risk to adults and children. Please refer to www.EnvironmentalDefense.org/seafood for more details.




Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Exploited heavily for decades, the West Atlantic Bluefin Tuna population is Critically Endangered, and the East Atlantic population is Endangered. Fishers use surface gears, such as pole-and-line, harpoon, trap, longline, and purse-seine gears to target this highly valuable species. These gear types have low impact on habitat. Little is known about bycatch associated with directed Atlantic Bluefin Tuna purse-seine fisheries, but tuna longline fisheries catch high numbers of finfish, sea turtles, and marine mammals.Chilean Sea Bass
Really named Patagonian Toothfish, high demand for this naturally long-lived fish drives depletion and creates an incentive for illegal and unregulated fishing. Incidental catch of seabirds in Toothfish longlines jeopardizes populations of albatrosses and petrels. The small South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands fishery for Patagonian Toothfish has been certified as environmentally sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

 

NP guys

A lot of PC members post up great information that I utilize so I like to try and return the favor!

Evan, that is terrible. It reminded me of The Knights who say Ni! (wav. file)

 

I think that is because no one really sells it do they? It would be akin to them listing Blue Whale or Leafy Seadragons. haha

 

Will have to respectfully disagree in that by eating whatever you want you create more of a market for that item. It is quite simple in that respect. I do agree with legislation but if there is not a demand for a product then then there will be less opposition from corporate lobbyists who want to continue oceananic imports/exports. To be most effective it comes down to the consumer to stop consuming AND voting for regulatory action.

Your line of reasoning sounds like an act of justification to eat whatever you want regardless of consequences. If eating Yangtze River Dolphin or Panda was legal would you still do it if it tasted good? Sometimes we have to act in ethical ways even if regulations have not caught up to our knowledge of a situation.

 

I still disagree. I understand your point but I think it missed the mark. Demand is very important to be sure although I will admit that the marketing people often create demand artificially (think Chilean Sea Bass) by creating fancy names and locations for their product and in effect selling more on status than on taste. A demand is a demand no matter how you look at it. When the huge sushi explosion happend in the U.S. does it not stand to reason that there was an increase in tuna harvest? I guess we will have to disagree on consumption not having an impact on fisheries then because I do not see how it could not, especially after having had similar conversations with Dept. of Fish and Game/U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials when I was taking those classes and similar discusions with biologists. Not that my information is any more legit than yours but your opnion doesn't quit add up given the data I've seen. Sorry if this came across disrespectful, it is not meant that way.

 

I agree with both of these points to be sure. I feel that a reduction in demand plays a large part in getting those resictions put into place. Again it comes down to corporations and their lobbyists. If they think they can stand to make a few more billion by staving off regulations for a few more years while they exhaust a supply and demand top dollar for that supply don't you think they will have no problem paying lobbyists to throw up smoke screens to delay regulation?

 

We are in agreement with regulations and management.


Livelychick, thank you for reading it.

Suferin' Prius Envy, Somehow I did not realize they were links. I'm sick and have been pretty loopy all day. lol I'll check em out. I am well aware of black markets for endangered species though. We spent 2 weeks on the subject and watch some pretty horrifying videos detailing the asian markets in particular. Our instructors were current and former Deputies of the CA. Dept. of Fish and Game and they ran the DFG "Special Operations Unit" and Delta-Bay Enhancement Enforcement (DBEEP) so it was really informative considering we were hearing first-hand experiences with abalone poachers.

Godiva, The farm raised salmon raise a bunch of other issues as well and are generally considered unsustainable when feed other fish and due to antibiotic treatments and gentics issues they are not generally a good choice. The alternative is grain fed salmon but then you end up with a bad omega-6 to omega-3 ratio again so what are we to do? Unless the process you are talking about is different than the type of farming I am thinking of.

Pentax, Maybe you should write an email to the organization hosting the chart so they can posiibly modify the rating on Swordfish. They did list how Swordfish are caught and what species are unintentional victims but maybe they gave it a "yellow" score because regulations are requring different capture methods?