Find sustainable seafood now

Eating seafood sustainably involves knowing which fish are harvested in an environmentally-friendly manner and which are not. The organizations below feature online seafood guides on sustainable fish choices and fish to avoid. All three also offer free, pocket sized “seafood cards” you can print out and take with you to the store or your favorite seafood restaurant.

Blue Ocean Institute's Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood has information on sustainability and health issues
Environmental Defense Seafood Selector now with new information on health and contaminants. Blackberry/Iphone app available.
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Cards

printable guide to sustainable species in your region. Also available as an Iphone app.

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainable seafood certification Click on the Where to Buy tab to find MSC certified businesses and products near you.  

Why it’s important

Overfishing and destructive fishing methods are taking a toll on the world’s fish.  The oceans may seem inexhaustible, but useful fishing areas are relatively confined—centered in coastal areas where both human and fish populations congregate. In recent decades, the strain of keeping up with human demand is stretching many fisheries to the breaking point. According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, four fifths of the world’s major fisheries are fished at or beyond sustainable limits, or in some cases have already been fished out.

By-Catch
A fishing boat’s haul includes the targeted fish species, as well as bycatch: a sea turtle, crabs, and sand dollars that were caught unintentionally. Certain fishing gear, such as turtle excluder devices can help decrease bycatch.).

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The precipitous decline in so many of the world’s fisheries is not just a response to human need, but also the result of human disregard for the delicate complexities of aquatic ecosystems in our eagerness to exploit the resource. Technological advances in the past few decades have enabled the world’s fishing fleet to maximize its catch. Unfortunately, the focus has been on increasing volume at any cost, not on reducing waste or fostering a more sustainable relationship with the world’s fisheries.  It is increasingly becoming a game of Where’s Waldo as an ever more sophisticated fleet of boats lands an ever smaller amount of fish, with production falling by 3.7 million tons from 2000 to 2006.

Commercial fleets often use trawl nets and dredges that rake the ocean floor in a process more akin to clearcutting than fishing, sweeping up unwanted flora and fauna along with the desired catch, obliterating seabed habitat in the process. Some overfished stocks can recover, but the devastation wreaked by deep sea trawlers makes this difficult. The consequent disruption of biological balance in aquatic ecosystems is critically impairing the natural ability of fish to survive and reproduce. A 2006 study from the journal Science found that the ocean has been thrown so far out of balance that, unless steps are taken to reverse trends, all current commercial fish and seafood species will collapse by 2050. If current trends continue, the catch of the day in 2050 might be jellyfish.

Seafood guides such as those listed above provide consumers and sellers the tools they need to begin choosing better managed and more abundant fish, decreasing the burden on the world’s fisheries.

Health

The potential for mercury contamination raises questions concerning the net health benefits of eating fish.  If Omega-3s found in fish build the brain, while mercury in that same fish tears it down, is fish at best a nutritional wash?  A 2006 Harvard Study found that the benefits of eating fish a few times a week greatly outweighs the  potential harm from contamination.  Coronary heart disease, all too common in an America overrun by fast food chains, is reduced by over a third by modest fish consumption. 

Pregnant women and young children should remain cautious, however, about eating fish that may be contaminated by mercury.  (On the other hand, the Omega-3 fatty acids in fish have been shown to improve early brain development.)  As a rule, the higher up a particular fish is in the food chain, the greater the risk of mercury contamination, due to the principle of bioaccumulation.    

The EPA and FDA recommend 12 ounces of fish a week for mothers-to-be and their young children.  To limit the overall exposure to toxins, these vulnerable populations should avoid top-of-the-food-chain fish like shark and swordfish.

By following a few simple guidelines, you can identify the seafood that is healthiest for you and our lakes, rivers, and oceans.

Learn more

A wealth of information on seafood issues can be found in books, as well as these non-profit websites:

Links:

Check out New Dream’s Cater to the Earth pages, where you can:

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