Making informed seafood choices

[Active Verb]

When my family and I go to the market, there are a wide variety of seafood choices. And because we want to eat healthy, I've been between a rock and a hardplace regarding which fish to buy in order to get the benefit of omega 3 oils and a good source of protein and at the same time avoid getting mercury, pcbs, and other contaminants. Thankfully, it appears someone has done the homework for us. http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=bestandworst Environmental Defense (previously the Environmental Defense Fund) has a wonderful tool to assess both the sustainability and the safety of the catch for specific species of fish. Some winners include

All pacific salmon
pollack
atlantic mackeral
mahimahi
tilapea
channel catfish

I think it goes without saying that the biggest losers are the top predators, tuna, shark, swordfish, and bluefish. I encourage my fellow BF mates to use the tool and make delicious, sustainable, and safe seafood decisions.

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[Bob W]

A couple of years ago Time Magazine listed similar information. Thanks for posting. I wish more people would take this into consideration when shopping. Many of the world's fish populations are nearly depleted, ironically due to people trying to eat healthier.

Here's some info on sharks, one example of an unwise shopping choice:

Most shark species are severely depleted. They are caught accidentally by the thousands and discarded as waste by tuna and swordfish longline fishers. Also, strong demand for their fins in Asia and the fact that most sharks mature slowly and have few offspring are other reasons for their precipitous decline. Spiny dogfish are especially vulnerable to overfishing, since they have the longest gestation period of any vertebrate (two years).

-Bob