How to help sustain the ocean’s bounty for future generations

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By Karen Gaudette

PCC Natural Markets

You may have noticed the term “sustainable” mentioned lately in the same breath as farming and fishing. Food has always sustained us. But now, the concern is shifting to how we can sustain our food supply, whether harvested from land or sea.

For decades now, we’ve removed fish from the ocean faster than they can reproduce. Some types of fishing gear, including large nets and trawls dragged along the seafloor, have damaged habitat and captured other sea creatures beyond the targeted catch, including sea mammals and turtles.

Stronger enforcement of fishing regulations is helping some species to rebound or, at least, stave off extinction. We can help at home, too, with the types of seafood we choose to enjoy at dinnertime. Buying fish from abundant, well-managed fisheries helps support healthy oceans for future generations.

The following seafood shopping and dining guidelines are courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program:

_ Some species to avoid for now include: Chilean seabass, monkfish, orange roughy, Bluefin tuna, sharks, imported swordfish, imported shrimp, imported Mahi Mahi, Atlantic or imported Pacific cod and farmed salmon. They are caught or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.

_ Some of the best choices include: Wild Alaskan salmon, troll or pole-caught albacore and skipjack tuna, farmed bay scallops, Pacific halibut, white seabass, Pacific sardines, U.S. farmed tilapia, Dungeness crab, Pacific cod caught by longline in Alaska, farmed catfish, and farmed clams, mussels and oysters.

Monterey Bay Aquarium offers a regional sustainable seafood pocket guide. Find it at

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx.