BajaNomad

How to eat seafood sustainably

Bajaboy - 6-29-2008 at 06:24 AM

How to eat seafood sustainably

Some general guidelines, tips, and resources for supporting good fishing practices.
By Moises Velasquez-Manoff | Staff Writer of The Christian Science Monitor / June 27, 2008 edition

In general, US fisheries are better-managed than others worldwide, so try to buy local seafood. This may be difficult as well as expensive, because America imports 80 percent of its seafood. Think of the higher price as one that’s closer to the true cost of a sustainable fishery.

The London-based nonprofit Marine Stewardship Council has certified 26 fisheries worldwide, including Pacific albacore, Alaskan pollock, and Baja Mexican red rock lobster.

Friend of the Sea, another international nonprofit, also has a certification process.

The full story can be found here:
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/06/27/how-to-...

or here:
http://tinyurl.com/5m9oxw

Zac

Cypress - 6-29-2008 at 07:05 AM

Several species of fish have been brought back to sustainable levels in US waters through well-enforced regulations.:D Seasons, size limits, possession limits, net bans, commercial sales bans, all have been thrown into the mix.:D It works.:D Aquaculture has taken some of the pressure off wild stocks.:D

805gregg - 6-29-2008 at 07:09 AM

Nice, I'm lucky, I have a local seafood market that catches their own fish, so I have been eating sustainable fish or fish caught by me for 25 years. Thanks Bajaboy.

TMW - 6-29-2008 at 11:00 AM

For those of us that live inland and maybe those that don't, how would we know where the fish is caught. I usually shop at Albertson or it could be any store that sells seafood and the fish is in an open tray on ice, not packaged. If I ask where it's caught they can say whatever they want, how would I know. Why stop with fish? The only fish I know of, or think I know of, that is caught in the US or I should say raised is catfish. Mississippi Catfish Co. Except they are not in Mississippi.

bajaguy - 6-29-2008 at 11:48 AM

And is it fresh, fresh frozen or just frozen and then thawed????

Cypress - 6-29-2008 at 11:49 AM

Delta Pride catfish are grown in ponds in Mississippi. :tumble: High quality fish.:bounce:

TMW - 6-29-2008 at 12:10 PM

In 1995 I was attending a manufactures school in Quincy, IL and I had some of the best catfish and carp to eat. One night I asked the owner of a river front resturant if the fish was caught right there in the mississippi river and she said "oh no we wouldn't eat anything caught in the mississippi river with all it's pollution. The fish they use is from the Mississippi Catfish Co. of Lynchburg, VA". I told this story to my uncle and he said he was in Alabama a couple of years earlier and was at a catfish farm and they told him they were under contract with the Mississippi Catfish Co. in VA.

[Edited on 6-29-2008 by TW]

TW, you need to fly over some of that area--

beercan - 6-29-2008 at 12:16 PM

Years ago , it was big chicken houses , now it's ponds . All over the lower south !

Sharksbaja - 6-29-2008 at 12:51 PM

This subject is noble, important and interesting. The shame is that when Greenpeace does a good thang it's usually dismissed as propaganda or worse.

The report on grocery stores is pretty good, save the Photoshopped inserts. It does put the stores on notice that folks are educating themselves about seafood sources and the blatant means of taking animals that are at high risk.

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/reports4/carting-...

Cypress - 6-29-2008 at 01:54 PM

Tilapia, catfish, crawfish, shrimp, the list keeps growing.:yes: Any seafood that can be farm raised takes pressure off the wild stocks.:yes: They're raised on privately-owned property.:bounce:Those tuna and salmon pens along the coastal waters?:?: They're located in what was once "public waters". Now private property.:OWTF! Who makes these decisions?:(

elgatoloco - 6-29-2008 at 02:02 PM

Thanks for posting the links, great information we all should utilize. We never hesitate when shopping at Whole Foods for seafood. They have made sustainability priority one. That goes for all their products. :cool:

Klondike_Kid - 6-29-2008 at 04:00 PM

One of the big wild stock comebacks through closures of commercial fisheries, limiting sportfishing, changing size limits to save spawners, supplementing the ocean stocks with hatchery fry was the Redfish in the Gulf. (Remember the Blackened Redfish craze that swept the nation and decimated the stocks?) It takes a big concerted effort to turn things around quickly. There was one King salmon stream in Alaska that was depleted down to 6,000 fish run. Closed it down for 7 years to sportfishing, a full king salmon life cycle and then some, and the river bounced back to 30+ thousand kings thru the counter AFTER sport and commercial harvest and up to 50K in some years.

Baja is sorely in need of a healthy management plan and an enforcement agency with teeth. Start taking away those boats and ships of violators and the message begins to be heard loud and clear. Many depleted stocks in SOC could make a quick comeback if allowed to build back to sustainable levels. But from what I read by witnesses who have lived there for decades there doesn't seem to be much progress so far.

Cypress - 6-29-2008 at 04:39 PM

Klondike_kid, Progress?:DHand lines, to gill nets, to tending nets with hooka rigs,to purse seines, and then to sitting on the corner with a cup begging for pocket change.:(

Klondike_Kid - 6-29-2008 at 05:26 PM

Was just mentioning that tin cup and "can I wash your car for ten pesos senior" syndrome that is about to bite their economy big time. With a combination of overfishing 365 days a year and the price of fuel for airlines and road vehicles continuing to head to the stratosphere where only the rich will come to Mexico proper and Baja, they are headed for one big drop off the edge of the cliff. I suspect that the housing and land markets will plunge in the wake of the oil crisis and with a lack of fish to bring even the rich or well off crowd, the only thing Mexico can offer is a sandy beach and a swim. We can get that in many other places in the world besides south of the border.

I feel like a vulture. I CAN SEE the writing on the wall with airlines dropping flights to Mexican cities, gas/diesel too high to make it to the Mexican border where some government subsidy is a welcome relief and towns reverting back to their "sleepy little fishing village" culture. I can wait it out but will still visit in the meantime. Gonna be some bargains in the next few years.

Klondike_Kid - 6-29-2008 at 05:39 PM

Cypress, much like our Native Heritage here in Alaska. Our original Alaskans still want all the benefits of harvesting whales and other marine mammals plus bears, caribou and moose as their "traditional culture dictates" but they want to use beach dories with 150 hp Yamaha 4 strokes, .375 H&H Magnums with variable 3x12 scopes, 4x4 ATVs to run down the caribou and snow machines to travel a hundred miles to bag an animal. But hey, don't forget to give them their welfare checks and food stamps.

TMW - 6-30-2008 at 07:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sharksbaja
This subject is noble, important and interesting. The shame is that when Greenpeace does a good thang it's usually dismissed as propaganda or worse.

The report on grocery stores is pretty good, save the Photoshopped inserts. It does put the stores on notice that folks are educating themselves about seafood sources and the blatant means of taking animals that are at high risk.

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/reports4/carting-...


All the stores fail in that report with the highest rating being a 4 out of 10. The highest rated store on the list that's out here is Wal-Mart and around here it would be Sam's Club. No Super Wal-Marts around here yet. Most of the western stores are rated 1 and 2 out of 10.

It is a good report as one can use the list as to which fish to buy.

Bajaguy, all the fish you buy in a store is frozen. My understanding is that fresh usually means it was frozen for less than 72 hours.

Pescador - 6-30-2008 at 08:13 AM

Do you mean to tell me people actually buy fish????? That is some kind of novel concept. :?::?::?:

How to eat seafood sustainably

motoged - 6-30-2008 at 10:00 AM

Nomads,
My "Best Practices" approach is to not consume more than 6 fish tacos at a sitting (or standing ) :saint: