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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.

Resources & additional information

UNH Atlantic Marine
Aquaculture program


Massachussetts Division of
Marine Fisheries


Maine Department of Marine Resources

Monterey Bay Aquarium
Seafood Watch Program


Northeast Consortium

New Hampshire Seafood
Fresh & Local

seafood  
  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.
 
Seafood Glossary

Trawling: Method of fishing by which shipsdrag nets behind
   them. This often results in a large amount of bycatch.
  Bottom trawling also can destroy fish habitat.

Hook & line: Traditional fishing pole method for catching
  fish, environmentally responsible.

Troll/Pole: Towing fishing lines behind a boat, considered
  environmentally responsible.

Gillnetting: Netting that hangs in the water and is kept in
  place by weights and floats. Results in excessive bycatch
  but has little or no effect on habitat.

Open water longlining: A series of hooks attached to a
  central line. Fishermen return after a time to retrieve their
  catch. Can result in bycatch.

Bycatch: Animals and species of seafood caught
  unintentionally. Bycatch is often thrown overboard
  as waste.
   
 
Seafood, by Nathan Walker
     
               
 
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Last updated July 24, 2009 - ©2009 Seacoast Harvest