Living green is all about choices. It is opting for the selection with the least amount of impact to the environment. That is where sustainable seafood comes in.
To get some types of seafood, methods are used that carry environmental risk, resulting in habitat damage. Some species are overfished. Fishermen may practice illegal or unregulated fishing. These practices lead to a decline in healthy fish populations and risk the continued existence of the resource.
Your choice of seafood can help avert this issues and encourage sustainable aquaculture or fish farming. This can limit habitat damage, while protecting wild species from disease and other threats. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program can give you the information you need to make good choices.
Seafood that you should avoid include:
- Orange roughy
- Wild Atlantic sole
- Chilean sea bass
- Monkfish
Catching monkfish, for example, uses methods that damage ocean floors because they are a bottom-dwelling fish. Chilean sea bass grows slowly, which puts it at risk of overfishing since they may not live long enough to reproduce.
Other types of seafood offer better choices because populations are stable and capture has the minimal environmental impact. Species you should buy include:
- Stone crab
- U.S. farmed catfish
- Farmed oyster and mussels
- Albacore tuna
Just about for any species to avoid, there is an alternative that is more eco-friendly. It is simply a matter of becoming informed. As a consumer, your choices can make a powerful statement to encourage best practices for the seafood industry.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program has an iPhone and Android app that you can install on your smartphone to have the information at your fingertips while shopping or eating out. You can also encourage your grocery store to stock sustainable seafood choices to spread the word and increase awareness.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the oceans’ resources are limitless. After all, the seas cover 70 percent of the planet and support almost half of all life forms on Earth. Yet, ocean environments are vulnerable, just like any other ecosystem. Their vastness is not protection from the impacts that threaten them. Choosing sustainable seafood is one way to protect these precious resources.
