As I was wandering around Monterey’s Cannery Row this past weekend, I thought I’d pick up the most recent Seafood Watch pocket guide from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
This little number, which outlines the best and worst seafood to eat (sustainability-wise, not taste-wise) is bound to catch you doing something wrong. Just when you thought wild-caught salmon was ecologically correct, you learn that’s true only if it was caught north of Cape Falcon, Oregon. And tuna is great choice, as long as it was fished off the coast of British Columbia with a pole.
When you’re at the market or in a restaurant, how are you to know if the mahi mahi is local, or if the salmon was truly caught wild in Alaska? You don’t, even if you ask and receive an answer: plenty of farmed salmon is being sold as wild, as The New York Times discovered.
The good news is that Dungeness crab, squid, sardines, sand dabs, tilapia, and rainbow trout—seafood that’s relatively cheap and available in the Bay Area—are all good choices. Plus, with these guys, you know what you’re getting.
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Mandy, I've been through the same thing, along with wondering if farmed salmon is safe because of accumulated dioxin. And do we support the Gulf fisherman by eating stuff that may not be safe? Maybe we should just establish our own fisheries in our bathtubs....
ReplyDeleteBe sure to add salt.
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