Most of us know these days that not all seafoods are created equal – that is, certain types of fish and shellfish are more or less sustainable to catch or farm. Unfortunately the specifics can be confusing. What kind of fish is it? How was it caught? Was it farmed, and how? Where did it come from? Is it safe for me to eat without consuming toxins like mercury?
Luckily there are several organizations who have made it a bit easier by publishing recommendations for us. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch keeps an updated list of recommendations and publishes a free Pocket Guide for keeping handy at the grocery store. In case you forget your pocket guide, you can text the Blue Ocean Institute’s FishPhone (text 30644 with the message "FISH" and the name of the fish you want to know about) for an instant “thumbs up” or “thumbs down.”
If you’re interested in going local, and avoiding the negatives of conventional fish farming and wild fishing, check out Local Ocean, a new generation of fish farmers in Hudson, NY.
With just a little bit of investigation and a printer or cell phone, you can feel confident that your buying power is going toward the greener side of the seafood market!
