Navigating Sustainable Seafood

Date: 11.18.2009 | Category: Real Food

by Sean Buchanan

Conversations about sustainable seafood are like conversations about fad diets. Everyone has an opinion, a strong opinion. Chefs hear daily about which fish is best to buy, what’s sustainable and what isn’t, and what’s most likely to sell. And just like every person searching the Web for the hippest, newest weight loss solution, we sift through information and try to back up the decisions we make.

Separating the legitimate science from the pseudo-science and good information from misinformation can be tough. We rely on resources like websites, industry professionals, nonprofit organizations, other chefs as well as state and federal agencies. Some of my favorite information resources are:

• Chefs Collaborative

• EcoFish

• Seafood Choices Alliance

• Monterey Bay Aquarium

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The truth about most businesses is that if they can see an increase in the bottom line by becoming more sustainable, they will be more than happy to embrace the “green revolution.” The problem is that nothing happens overnight.  The seafood industry gets smarter with each passing day. Like all businesses, they want to make money. They use technology to their advantage. Over time, bad companies can become leaders and unfortunately there’s always someone who will exploit something for a buck.

My rule of thumb is: Know what you are buying and whom you are buying from. If you’re not sure, don’t buy it. As a consumer, your best deterrent is to not support unsustainable fishing practices. But what does that mean?

In my opinion, sustainable seafood is:

• Sourced from a fishery that maintains a sizable wild population and whose harvesting does not reduce other fish populations

• Fished by methods that do not cause detriment to the populations of other species—within reason (nothing is perfect)

• Fished by methods where the bycatch is minimal

• Sourced from a fishery that maintains spawning grounds, sea bottoms and plant life to keep sea populations diverse

• Sourced from companies and businesses that are finding new ways to keep fishermen in business and teaching them new methods to work with our oceans as farmers work our land

• Supporting initiatives that keep our fish stocks high and stable, and sharing in their success and learning from their failures

There are three giant hurdles for sustainable seafood to become commonplace:

• Customer Acceptance: At all levels, from wholesale to the individual customer, educate people on how to buy fish, how to cook fish and what it tastes like. There used to be no market for grass-fed beef or free-range organic chickens. Who ate tilapia 15 years ago
• Price Tag: Make sure the product is accessible to all markets. Cut out the middlemen, buy more localized seasonal seafood and make sure everyone has an option. Farmed catfish and trout are cheap and accessible.
• Stereotypes: Farm-raised seafood is not going to destroy the earth. Just be choosy about what you buy and where you buy it from. Let’s take salmon, for instance, there’s good, bad and ugly. But with all of the negative press that industry has gotten, there are plenty of companies that are doing the right thing.

Question all things–even this blog! My opinion is not the opinion of all, and it will change. We should constantly reevaluate the world we live in and our impact on it.

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