Sustainable Seafood

Seafood is a great, healthy food! But have you ever thought about where your tuna comes from? Fish populations are beginning to dwindle because we are overfishing and not allowing the populations enough time to reproduce enough. Farm fishing is an option for some fish, but many fish require too many resources to gain enough weight to be marketable.

So what is a green collegiate to do when they want to eat fish sustainably? Do what every college student does, watch TV!! One of my favorite shows, Good Eats, features an entire episode on green fish! Alton Brown supports sustainable seafood, is there any better reason for us to eat sustainably? For those who don't have enough time to watch, here is the down low!

1) Eat lower on the food chain! These fish are smaller and therefore, can reproduce faster. This allows their population to recover from fishing. Some examples are: Sardines, Herring, Trout. Basically any small fish!

2) Eat seafood like squid, oysters, and muscles! They are also lower on the food chain.

3) Buy American (that is, if your from the USA, I wouldn't support buying imported fish...) The USA has stricter farming and fishing standards than other parts of the world.

4) Ask for sustainable, when you go to your fish market, counter, monger, ask for sustainable options! If they don't have it, tell a manager they will be able to order some in to your grocery store.

5) Eat Local. If you live on the coast make sure you buy locally to support your local fisheries and the environment. In land-locked areas buy as local as possible. (look at the labels!!!)

6) There's an app for that! Download the Seafood Watch app for Android and iPhone. It provides you with recommendations, a regional guide, sushi guides.

Remember to have your "Good Eats" sustainably :)