Dear Dave,
My family tradition is to have a seafood for New Years dinner but our children have been getting noisy about its ‘sustainability’ and suggesting turkey instead. Is there a way to make informed choices at the seafood counter so that we can have a guilt-free dinner?
Sue,
Wisconsin
Hello Sue,
EXCELLENT question! This is a topic getting more attention lately and I am glad that your children got noisy about it. I will answer this in two parts as you will find two ‘types’ of seafood in your supermarket: Wild caught vs. Farm raised.
WILD CAUGHT SEAFOOD
Wild fish are ‘organic.’ They are not fed antibiotics, food coloring, or animal byproducts. The only downside is that they are almost gone!
The very difficult truth is that wild seafood stocks that enabled this continent to be settled are all but gone. Yes there are still fish in the sea – but due largely to modern industrial fishing practices that use massive ships to catch, process, and freeze their harvest the ocean has been brutally over-harvested.
FARM RAISED SEAFOOD
The bulk of seafood products found in most supermarkets are now farm-raised. Species like salmon, trout, shrimp, catfish, and tilapia are reared in massive quantities using a wide range of questionable practices. These animals are typically fed antibiotics, they are fed pellets made from other animals and/or grains (vegetable protein from soy), and in the case of salmon they are artificially colored to resemble their wild distant cousins.
How to choose? My personal opinion is that farm raised fish is not yet ‘ready’ for human consumption. Any animal that needs to be fed chemicals to make it onto the table wont find its way onto my plate. I always choose wild-caught fish but I pay attention to the source, harvest practice, and the overall health of the species.
For species-specific advice and tips on how to become an educated seafood shopper visit this site: http://www.seafoodwatch.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx
And yes, they have an app for that.
Sardines for dinner?!? Dave.
Chilean Purse Seine
Genesis Transformation's Blog 
Barbra & Jack Donachy
December 28, 2013
Great recommendation, Dave! It’s important for consumers to understand that while some stocks of wild-caught fish are imperiled, many are healthy. Consider salmon.
One of the most environmentally irresponsible choices consumers could make would be to purchase farmed salmon. An investment in a dinner of healthful, sustainable, responsibly harvested Alaskan or West Coast salmon is an investment not only in a great dinner, but by valuing wild-caught fish consumers place real economic value on the clean environment these fish need, thus helping to ensure they’ll be available for generations to come. What could be a more fitting holiday fish than a wild-caught salmon, born and bred in American waters? Pacific halibut is another good, wild-caught choice.
Many shellfish are farmed in the United States, and generally these, too, get high marks for sustainability. Shrimp, not so much, but scallops, mussels and oysters are all good choices.
We agree that http://www.seafoodwatch.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx
is the best resource to begin learning more about which fish are good choices.
David Cohen
December 30, 2013
THANK YOU for your comment Barbara & Jack! I agree that there are many healthy domestic stocks that with responsible management can provide us with clean and delicious protein for the future. I do tend to get freaked out at times and focus on the depletion; I appreciate your reminder that the ocean is a huge and resilient thing.
I also checked out your blog and commend you for being responsible shepherds of the sea.
Many Thanks,
David