While I try to buy local foods, I’m still learning about the sustainability of the foods I eat. Having lived in the Midwest for most of my adult life, I’m just getting exposed to the bounty of seafoods on the West Coast, and the impact of fishing practices.
I learned a lesson over the Presidents Day weekend in Monterey.
At a Valentine’s Day dinner with my husband, I ordered a special listed on a restaurant menu: red snapper. It was delicious, and I didn’t think twice about it.
The next morning, we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the first time. From hovering rockfish to synchronized-swimming sardines, the Kelp Forest was my early favorite.
Then we came to a fish counter, featuring information on three popular seafoods: rockfish, salmon and tilapia.
I pressed the rockfish button: “Buyer beware!” three people in the virtual kitchen warned. “West Coast rockfishes are often marketed as Pacific red snapper, and should be avoided due to concerns about the way they are caught.” And true red snapper from the Gulf of Mexico is overfished.
So much for fond thoughts of our romantic dinner.
Then I pressed the salmon button: “Buyer beware!” again. Farmed salmon raised in open net pens in the ocean harm the ecosystem with chemicals, parasites and escapes of farmed fish into native salmon habitat. “Avoid.” But wild-caught Pacific salmon from Alaska and farmed freshwater coho salmon raised in closed tank systems are ranked a “Best Choice.”
Last was the tilapia button. This freshwater fish is a “Best Choice” if U.S.-farmed in closed inland systems that guard against escapes and pollution. Tilapia from Central and South America are ranked a “Good Alternative.” Tilapia from China and Taiwan, where pollution and weak management are problems, are ranked “Avoid.”
Hmmm. Eating ethically and sustainably doesn’t seem all that easy. Fortunately, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program helps (see www.seafoodwatch.org to print out a handy wallet-size card).
In our region, the Davis Food Co-op and the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op use the Seafood Watch ranking system to label seafood.
Recently, two major national chains have joined the effort. Target no longer will carry farmed salmon, in favor of Alaskan wild-caught salmon. Safeway no longer will sell monkfish, grouper and Atlantic/ Gulf red snapper. The store also will implement a tracing system for its seafood supplies.
The path of fish from water to table does matter. It’s about individual responsibility: checking labels and asking questions when shopping or eating out. Without asking, I won’t know if albacore tuna is pole-caught (a best choice) or longline-caught (avoid). But I know now to ask. And the more people ask, the more businesses will pay attention.