EDFish

Seafood Choices, Helpful Tools from EDF and Monterey Bay Aquarium

By / Bio / Published: October 29, 2009

Salmon steak with tomatoes and limeLast week, as part of its 25th anniversary celebration, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program released a report entitled, “Turning the Tide: The State of Seafood.” It outlines the challenges and opportunities facing the global seafood industry, and how consumers, businesses and policy makers in North America can make a difference in the health of our oceans.
 
One piece of the report that was covered extensively, was the creation of a “Super Green” list of seafood choices, which are both fished or farmed responsibly AND good for your health. I worked with the Aquarium over the last several months to develop and refine this list based on EDF’s extensive research on the topic. Here are the best choices that we identified:

  • Albacore Tuna (from the U.S. or British Columbia)
  • Mussels (farmed)
  • Oysters (farmed)
  • Pacific Sardines
  • Pink Shrimp (from Oregon)
  • Rainbow Trout (farmed)
  • Salmon (from Alaska)
  • Spot Prawns (from British Columbia)

A second tier of good choices with slightly lower, but still beneficial levels of omega-3s includes Arctic char, farmed bay scallops, U.S. crawfish, Dungeness crab, U.S. longfin squid, and longline-caught Pacific cod from Alaska.
 
Too often the debate around this issue is portrayed as black and white – either that all seafood is healthy and should be consumed whenever possible, or that it’s all contaminated and we should get our omega-3s from sources other than fish. Well we now know that that doesn’t have to be the case. You can still enjoy the health benefits of seafood consumption, while minimizing your exposure to contaminants and supporting responsible fisheries and aquaculture operations. Now that’s a win-win for everyone.
 
For everything you could ever want to know about your favorite types of fish (including fishing/farming practices, biological information, nutritional content, recipes and consumption advisories), visit EDF’s Seafood Selector. And for up-to-the-second information on all things-fish related, follow me on Twitter @hawaiifitz.

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New Oyster Reef Yields Good Results in Chesapeake

By / Bio / Published: August 7, 2009

Here’s something you don’t hear about every day: good news about the Chesapeake Bay.  The Washington Post is reporting that an artificial reef in a tributary is teeming with new life.  The reef is nothing more complex than a large pile of shells.  Historically reefs like that were so numerous they were a hazard for ships.  So many oysters lived in the Chesapeake that they filtered all the water in the bay every few days. 

The demise of the Chesapeake oyster came around the turn of the last century through a manic and violent harvest that reduced the population to just one percent of historic abundance in less than a century.  As many as 15 million oysters were harvested annually in the late 1800’s, compared to 100,000 or less today.

Scores of people died in the mad pursuit of oysters.  Maryland was forced to establish the Oyster Police to protect its oystermen against their counterparts from Virginia.  Violent conflicts between watermen from the two states became so common that this era is now known as the Oyster Wars.

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Restaurants and Community Working for Sustainable Fisheries Policy

By / Published: July 24, 2009

groupshotcompressed.jpgIt isn’t often that a neighborhood restaurant wades into complex policy discussions about fisheries management, so kudos to Bob Klein of the traditional Italian restaurant Oliveto’s in Oakland for hosting a Fisheries Forum on Saturday.  The restaurant not only serves delicious, sustainable seafood – it’s also willing to go the extra mile to help educate its customers and the wider community of the importance, challenges, and opportunities of fisheries management.

EDF’s marine ecologist Rod Fujita and Pacific Ocean program director Johanna Thomas were invited to be panel participants, along with Erika Feller of The Nature Conservancy, Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and Larry Collins, a crab fisherman from the San Francisco Bay Area. The panel was moderated by Ed Ueber, a former manager of the Cordell Bank Marine Sanctuary.

About 30 people showed up at Oliveto’s to learn about the potential of catch share programs – like the recently approved West Coast groundfish IFQ — and community fishing associations – like the innovative Cape Cod Hook Association —  to improve the economics and sustainability of fishing along the Pacific coast. Following the panel discussion, participants were treated to an amazing Italian Riviera-style fisherman’s stew comprised of all local fish-rockfish, squid, and clams – with wild fennel pollen, saffron, and olives.

Bravo to Oliveto’s and all the participants for their commitment to providing fresh, local, delicious and sustainable seafood from the Bay Area and the California Coast. Hopefully the good meal and good discussions were the beginning of a fresh dialogue, as we all have a stake in preserving California’s rich fishing communities.

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SeafoodSource.com Suggests Seafood Buyers Consider Catch Shares for Sustainability

By / Published: July 20, 2009

Lisa Duchene, SeafoodSource’s contributing editor, shared her commentary a few days ago with the publication’s audience of commercial seafood buyers. “Does your sustainable seafood purchasing policy address ‘catch shares?’ Maybe it should,” writes Duchene.

Of course, EDF agrees. Quoting the critical study by Christopher Costello and Steven Gaines published in the journal Science, Duchene states the facts pointing toward well-designed catch shares as the sustainable solution to rebuilding our nation’s fish stocks.

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Good Advice for Seafood Lovers

By / Bio / Published: July 7, 2009

Tim Fitzgerald is an oceans scientist for EDFEver stare at the seafood counter and wonder where all that fish comes from? Maybe not, but I do, and a new article in Martha Stewart’s Body+Soul magazine wades through some other issues that might be on your mind – overfishing, fish farming, omega-3s and mercury.

Although the article sugar coats a few things (e.g. wild fish generally being a safe, sustainable option – not true), it contains some good advice. First and foremost – get to know the people that sell you fish. They can be your best ally in making good choices and are often a wealth of knowledge.

Second, don’t be afraid to ask questions like, ‘Where is this fish from?’, ‘Is it farmed or wild?’, etc. This will help steer you in the right direction.

Third, its OK not to know all the answers. The seafood market is a big, confusing place. Luckily EDF’s Seafood Selector has done the hard work for you, and provides clear guidance on what fish are healthy for you and the oceans. Its available online, in print, and optimized for mobile devices.

Our oceans are in trouble, and seafood lovers are on the front lines of the crisis. Making smart choices at the fish counter (and in restaurants) can go a long way towards revitalizing our critical marine ecosystems.

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Selecting Sustainable Seafood: The Challenge for Consumers

By / Bio / Published: June 10, 2009

Diane Regas is Associate Vice President for EDFMaking sustainable seafood choices at the fish counter and at restaurants are daunting tasks for most people, even for experts such as New York Times food writer and cookbook author Mark Bittman. In his recent article, Bittman acknowledges the challenge of being a seafood consumer interested in both taste and environmental ethics.

“The buying has become a logistical and ethical nightmare,” Bittman states.

I’m glad that Bittman refuses to give up either eating fish or factoring sustainability into what he buys.  He tries to keep his selection of sustainable seafood simple with a few rules of thumb focused on staying away from the most troubled fish stocks.

When we all demand sustainable seafood, I think it will help support some of the tough decisions that need to be made to get the oceans healthy again.  Scientists tell us that the two best solutions are protecting the sensitive places in the ocean and managing the fish we catch properly through catch shares fishery management.

It is absolutely amazing that all the fisheries in the world are either fully fished at capacity or have been fished to collapse.  Yet strong evidence published in the journals Science and Nature show that catch shares end, prevent and even reverse the collapse of fisheries. In addition to ending overfishing and rebuilding fish stocks, well designed catch shares provide economic stability for fishermen and fishing communities.

Fortunately for the environment, fishermen and consumers alike, support for catch shares management continues to gain momentum and is being considered in all coastal regions of the country. The new NOAA administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco is demonstrating unprecedented support for studying, implementing, and funding catch shares management. Just yesterday the House of Representatives appropriations committee included a big increase in the budget to make catch shares happen.

With continued support from fishermen and even consumers, this momentum and support for catch shares can lead to a new era for fisheries management that protects our oceans and make eating seafood all the more enjoyable.

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