Safe Seafood

Safe seafood can be found, in your local fish market or on-line, but the search can be confusing. That's because two different safety issues both matter a lot, and most guides emphasize only one side, while ignoring the other.

Human- Healthy Fish

Worried about how much canned tuna you can safely eat in a week?
Which types of fish pregnant women should avoid?
How great the risk of PCB contamination in wild salmon really is?
Then the Environmental Working Group's Safe Fish List will be of some help, as will their Tuna Calculator. EWG will not, however, tell you much about the environmental impacts of catching or raising different types of fish.

Safe Seafood Choices for Healthy Oceans

If your concerns are more about your eco-footprint as a consumer, such as:
What's the big deal about farmed salmon?
If wild salmon is so much better than farmed, why are farmed fish like abalone, catfish, caviar, clams, mussels and oysters, striped bass, sturgeon, rainbow trout, and tilapia all considered good choices?
What are the impacts of over-fishing?
What fishing methods are harmful; and which cause little damage to sea beds and 'secondary catch' species?

Major aquariums, such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, are a great place to learn about these issues while being awed and delighted by the exhibits and hands-on activities.

But if you don't want to become a safe seafood expert, you can just use one of the pocket-size shoppers' guide, like the ones from Monterey Bay Aquarium (both a West Coast and now an East Coast version available now) and from Oceans Alive.

Concerned for Both People and the Environment?

One of the best sites to bring both these sides together is Kid Safe Seafood, which lists all the types of fish you may ever want to buy (and some you've never heard of) and tells how much a child can eat safely, what health risks are known, and which have environmental problems. They also simplify it all with a "best choices" page, and detailed information on the top fish options.

Eating Fish at Seafood Restaurants

There are quite a few restaurants these days serving "sustainable seafood." The owners and staff share your concerns, and make your choices as a guest simple - anything on the menu is OK! You can search for them online, using your zip code in the US, or country name abroad.

Cooking Safe Seafood at Home

One of the best reasons to eat locally is freshness; and that really counts with seafood. As in, just caught and still smells clean.

If you are lucky enough to live near a fishing marina, you can often buy the day's catch right off the boat. And the fisherman can tell you what's in season, what's coming up, how local conditions (like suburban development) are affecting the runs, and more. As a bonus, prices are lower with no middle man.

Next best is a local fish market. These are rarer today, but still a treat. The folks who work behind the counter can tell you where all the offering came from (did your fish fly? was it pre-frozen?), whether an item is farmed or wild, how fresh it is, how much you need for supper, and even how to prepare it.

In addition, some grocery stores have a good fish counter. Whole Foods carries only fish and shellfish on the environmentally approved lists, which makes choosing easy. And many local markets do to - just go in and ask some questions, if you aren't sure. If they won't let you sniff the fish, and don't know about mercury, PCBs, or sustainable fishing practices, try another shop.

Finally, you can get sustainably caught or farmed fish shipped to you, if you can't find it locally. That makes your meal's carbon footprint mighty big, but at least you will get good lean protein with Omega-3's, while supporting good practices in some other community.