Sustainable Seafood

I quit eating salmon a few years ago when the population of wild salmon that returned to spawn in the Northwest dropped to an all-time low. The alternative, of course, was to buy farm-grown salmon, but the arguments against that industry convinced me to give up salmon altogether. This was no easy separation, as I grew up fishing salmon on charter boats with my dad, and enjoying every sort of dish that can be made with our catch (salmon chowder, smoked salmon, salmon on the grill, baked salmon...you name it).

The convincing image was that of a Frankenstein salmon. The Frankenstein salmon is likely to escape into the wild, breed with wild salmon, and weaken the entire wild salmon population. I wanted no association with it. Though my image of the Frankenstein salmon is not entirely off-base (see the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Farmed Salmon Fact Card” at http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_SalmonFactCard.pdf), it turns out that giving up salmon altogether is not necessary.

According to seafood-specific charts crafted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a well-respected research institute and educational facility on the West Coast of the U.S., some salmon consumption is sustainable (and some is not). See, for example, this one-stop-shop chart. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=17.. According to this chart, farmed salmon (except for tank-farmed salmon) is not sustainable, but wild-caught Alaskan salmon is.

Check the label for the salmon’s origin and ensure – if you can – that the labeling is correct. See salmon mislabeling case followed by attorneys at Stoel Rives, http://www.foodliabilitylaw.com/2009/01/articles/preemption-1/supreme-court-denies-certiorari-on-salmon-labeling-case/.

Other tools for responsible seafood shoppers, as well as some educational links, are available here: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx.

Friends, this post will be my last one for January. In February, I will take most of the month off to learn more about fish...from a snorkeler’s perspective. Consider this my Sustainable Living break. Please check back in late February and early March for the next edition of Sustainable C. As always, your comments are welcome.