| Learning About Local Seafood | |||||||||||
Determining which seafood is the healthiest and most responsibly harvested is a complex task. Our goals are to support our local food producers, the larger ocean environment, and the future of fish species. Educating ourselves as consumers enables us to engage in dialog with our seafood purveyors and make informed purchasing decisions. When buying seafood, we should attempt to purchase species that have healthy and sustainable populations, and whose harvest does not damage critical habitat and has a limited bycatch. |
The most accurate and up-to-date information that encompasses all of these concerns is FishWatch, a website by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service. This website includes localized information about each species and its fishery, including the status of the stock, how the fishery is managed, nutrition facts, and information about environmental impacts. |
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Resources & additional information Monterey Bay Aquarium |
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| Questions to ask your fishmonger: How was this fish caught? Hook & line and trolling are generally the best. Trawling damages the ocean floor and open water longline result in bycatch. Where was this fish caught? There are generally more regulations protecting fish in U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Buying fish caught in the Northeast supports local economies. If it was farmed, how was it raised? Look for fish that are native to where they were raised, are lower on the food chain, and are raised in contained areas. Freshwater fish and fish that are not carnivores are usually a better choice of farmed fish. Contained areas minimize escapes, disease, and pollution. Open ocean farming of carnivorous fish is not healthy to the ocean environment, while shellfish (such as mussels), can be sustainable. |
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