Do you like seafood?  Love lobster and shrimp or a good shark fillet?  Many people do not realize that the seafood choices they make can make a big difference in the health of our oceans and in the sustainability of having these choices available in the future.  It was only a few short decades ago that it was commonly believed we could never over-exploit the wealth of our vast oceans of life.  Today however, many fish species are already severely depleted.  Some sources report declining or depleted stocks in as many as two thirds of our fisheries!*  We have turned to species that were formerly tossed back by fishermen as trash fish, but are now kept and consumed instead because other species are not available.

*National Wildlife Magazine, December/January 2001

Something Fishy is Going On

Each type of fish and its abundance is affected by many factors including over fishing, habitat degradation, bycatch and pollution.  It is estimated that worldwide fishing fleets are 40% larger than the oceans can sustain.**  Coastal wetlands, coral reefs and marine vegetation provide important habitat for two thirds of all species which are harvested, and all these habitats are in rapid decline.  Even though methods have been devised to reduce waste and non commercial bycatch while fishing, there is still tremendous loss – about 25% of animals taken from the sea are not targeted species and therefore tossed back injured or dead.  Dams prevent salmon from reaching natal egg laying grounds, while also preventing young salmon from returning to the sea.   Toxic and agricultural runoff into rivers, lakes, and oceans create “dead zones” where nothing can survive.

**Time Magazine, Special Edition, Spring 2000

Conditions and sustainable catch amounts change from area to area and over time depending on a lot of factors, such as how each species was caught, so it is a very complicated issue.  One of the best things you can do is to let your favorite restaurants and stores know that you will only be buying fish from sustainably harvested fisheries from now on.  Both the consumer and retailer have some terrific and easy resources to reference.  Websites such as Americanoceans.org, Audubon.org and EcoFish.com all have great guides to responsible seafood consumption.  For starters, here are a few good and bad choices:

Good Choices

• Pacific albacore tuna
• Pacific calamari/squid
• Farmed clams and catfish
• Dungeness crab
• Alaska halibut
• Mahi-mahi
• Farmed mussels and oysters
• New Zealand cod
• Farmed rainbow trout, striped bass, sturgeon, and tilapia
• Farmed scallops
• Mackerels
• Alaska salmon
• Alaskan spot prawns caught by low bycatch traps

Bad Choices

• Bluefin tuna
• Chilean seabass
• Atlantic cod, haddock, pollack, and scrod 
• Rockfish (aka red snapper, or rock cod)
• Sablefish (aka butterfish or black cod)
• Farmed salmon
• Atlantic sea scallops
• Shark
• Shrimp or prawns caught by trawling
• Swordfish
• Alaska king crab
• Orange roughy
• Grouper

The preceding tables were constructed from the following sources:

National Wildlife Magazine, December/January 2001
Time Magazine, Special Edition, Spring 2000
Americanoceans.org
Audubon.org
EcoFish.com