eating, choosing more environmentally friendly seafood will be second nature just like picking up some cage-free eggs or knowing which cereal you prefer. In using a tool such as Seafood Watch you might even find some new foods that you love. How cool would that be?
A similar resource for your seafood shopping needs is a labeling program on packaged fish or in the seafood sections of major grocery stores. Some examples of these types of labels include the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Gulf Wild, or This Fish brands. While these brands and labeling processes are far from perfect, they ensure the seafood you are consuming is gentler on the planet and shows fisheries managers that people do care about what they are eating and the impact their food has on the planet. The hope is that by seeing this demand grow, fisheries will want to appeal to an eco-conscious consumer base and voluntarily change their fishing practices to meet the requirements of one of these labeling programs. Over time, the standards of labeling programs could be raised to move closer to the ideal fishing methods and transparency will become more common in the fishing industry.
There’s a lot to think about when it comes to sustainable seafood, so these apps, labels, and other initiatives make sifting through the countless choices a little easier for those of us who don’t have hours to spend on researching the topic. The moral of the story, though, is that we can all make waves in conservation if we take a few extra moments out of our day to think and ask about where our food is coming from and how we can get others to do the same. While the fate of the Pacific Bluefin Tuna remains unknown, there certainly are other fish in the sea that we can, and should, make every effort to save while we still have time.
Marcus is a graduate student made of at least 40% recycled plastic studying marine conservation at the University of Miami. He is also a Project Coordinator at SEVENSEAS.
SEVENSEAS - 103