This week, when everybody else was trying to get home through a terrible snow storm, I was at dish cooking studio learning about cooking fish. I scaled a huge whitefish and learned to fillet a Mediterranean sea bass. This isn’t a review of the class, but in case you are wondering, it was satisfactory at best. What got titillated at this event was actually how I wasn’t necessarily selecting sustainable fish choices at the fish market. I had heard that Chilean sea bass was becoming extinct but I haven’t always done my best to avoid buying it. After visiting a few website, referred to me by Charmaine, the fish teacher, I am changing my ways!
Some great websites to learn more about this are: environmental defense, the endangered fish alliance, and a great Canadian site, Seachoice. There are clearly certain fish that we should just stop buying. We’ve depleted all stocks by over-fishing or the harvesting methods used a re taxing the environment or endangering organism number. These four are: Chilean sea bass, swordfish, caviar and roughy. Now I am not a swordfish, caviar or roughy lover, but who doesn’t love their buttery Chilean sea bass. I won’t buy it anymore. Some alternatives includes Sablefish from Alaska.
What I thought was really interesting is that there are certain fish you should avoid buying if they are a product of certain countries. For example, I love cooking myself up some fresh Tuna, however, some countries use unsustainable fishing methods, like longline, and you should avoid buying fish caught this way. Most U.S. Tuna is fine. Don’t be afraid to ask where your fish is from. Also, follow up with an internet search or email to make sure they tell you the truth. I am 80% certain that I was lied to by this company.
There are also health concerns when it comes to fish. For example, farmed Atlantic salmon contains a lot of PCBs and should be limited in consumption due to health issues. This can be avoided by purchasing wild pacific salmon. Not all farmed fish is bad. Farmed trout is one of the most sustainable and healthy (safe) choices you can make.
This is another case of putting your money where your values are. With our purchasing power we can control what’s being sold, and in turn affect global environmental issues.
But how yummy a nice sea bass is on the barby eh? But, on the other hand, our kids will know what a Chilean sea bass is and not die from mercury poison!
And that’s a good thing.
A Mendelian State of Mind 