How to Make Sustainable Seafood Choices -- Terra Wellington Tip Sheet

Tips on how to make a difference for our oceans.
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How to Make Sustainable Seafood Choices
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More seafood articles:
Help Your Family Avoid Contaminated Fish

A recent article (August 12, 2006) in the Los Angeles Times highlighted the desperation of several U.S. government agencies in a last-ditch effort to save some species of fish in U.S. coastal waters. It was stated that a proposal by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hoped to double the size of no-fishing zones around California’s Channel Islands in an effort to expand shallow refuges to deeper waters and protect more kinds of fish.

Additionally, according to the report, the Fish and Game Commission was considering a separate plan that would establish 26 additional marine reserves along California’s coast. Why are our oceans getting this urgent attention? Because our oceans are being severely harmed and depleted of its fish stock – in some cases to near extinction.

In fact, in 2003 the journal Nature published a scientific paper that stated 90 percent of all the big fish in the world’s oceans are gone. This includes tuna, halibut, swordfish, marlin, and shark. The reason? New technologies have allowed us to fish deeper and more skillfully so that fish are taken out faster, easier, and with more precision; but this often means that seafloors are damaged from plowing our oceans with trawl nets – a practice that means some habitats won’t recover for at least a century. Overfishing and accidental catching of unwanted marine animals during fishing (such as sea turtles, sharks, young fish, and seabirds) further damage the aquaculture. And there is rampant illegal fishing occurring throughout the world, which knows no catch-limit or regulation boundaries. All of this fishing means billions of pounds of fish are removed from the oceans each year at an unsustainable rate.

The result is the awakening – maybe too late – that our oceans could be completely exhausted and are more fragile than we thought. We are killing our oceans.

This begs the question – what can you do? Is there hope? As everyday citizens, parents, and moms, there are things you can do to help protect our oceans and, over time, bring back our oceans’ health. Much of what you can do is directly related to your pocketbook – if you don’t buy, they won’t sell. Here are some top things you can do right away.

▪ Buy only ecologically responsible fish. I have been involved in getting the word out about the Seafood Watch program at the California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium which helps to educate you on how to request and choose sustainable seafood. I recommend you go to www.seafoodwatch.org and download and print out a little pocket-sized guide for the region in which you live. The guide is small enough to fit into your wallet and be used at supermarkets and restaurants when choosing your fish. The guide will let you know what are best choices, good alternatives, and what to avoid. If you stick to the guide, you will make sustainable seafood choices.

▪ Request your supermarket and restaurant only carry sustainable seafood. When you are able to identify unsustainable seafood (fish to avoid) at your local grocery store, food warehouse, or restaurant, tell the manager you would like to see a different choice. Write a letter referencing Seafood Watch; this is an effective tool to get the attention of your store or restaurant. Why? So few people take the time to write and deliver their opinions in a credible way that your thoughts will really stick out and make an impact. Follow up by talking to the store or restaurant manager about your request. Many restaurants in the Monterey, California area have taken sustainable seafood seriously, due to the education of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and say on their menus that they only sell sustainable seafood dishes.

▪ Look for the MSC label. Many companies, including Unilever and Wal-Mart, are now supporters of the Marine Stewardship Council (www.msc.org) – an international non-profit organization that is dedicated to finding a solution to the world’s overfishing problems. The Council has an easily identifiable blue-logo label that represents a level of environmental care when it comes to fishing: the suppliers for that particular product were certified according to the MSC’s standards of sustainability. Write to your store, restaurant, or favorite seafood supplier/manufacturer and ask that they join with the MSC to meet sustainable standards. It is the hope of the Council that the MSC label would become the one-and-only consumer standard so that it would be easier to discern good product choices.

▪ Buy organic when possible. Another problem our oceans are confronting is pollution. A good portion of that pollution occurs from agricultural run-off, which kills off or sickens the oceans with large quantities of fertilizers and other chemicals. When you buy organic, you are supporting not only sustainable and healthier agriculture but also sustainable oceans.