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Watch out for the fish you consume - dire warnings and Alert
It is easy to make a difference. They have a list on this web site of what to look for. And they have handy wallet cards for particular regions etc. I have one for Hawaii.
DIRE WARNING ABOUT FUTURE OF SEAFOOD LENDS NEW URGENCY TO MAKING BETTER CHOICES
SeafoodWatch.org from the Monterey Bay Aquarium
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For information contact: November 2, 2006
Ken Peterson (831)-648-4922; kpeterson@mbayaq.org
Karen Jeffries (831) 644-7548; kjeffries@mbayaq.org
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Monterey Bay Aquarium experts: Changes in individual, business
buying habits can save ocean wildlife
Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood experts said today that consumers and businesses have a dramatic new reason to choose seafood that comes only from sustainable sources: a newly published study in the journal Science warning that the world’s wild-caught seafood fisheries could collapse by 2050.
The alert from Seafood Watch comes in response to publication of the paper by an international group of ecologists and economists who forecast dire consequences if current commercial fishing patterns continue.
“Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the oceans species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood,” says Dr. Steven Palumbi of Stanford University, a co-author of the Science paper.
“These dramatic findings suggest we need to find new ways to restore healthy fisheries and safeguard our seafood supply,” said Michael Sutton, vice president and director for the Center for the Future of the Oceans at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. “It’s imperative that consumers and businesses alike use their buying power to expand the market for seafood from sustainable sources.”
“Much of the seafood on the market today is caught or farmed in ways that are not sustainable over the long term,” said Jennifer Dianto, senior manager of the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. “The only way we can keep seafood in our diet is by making choices that preserve the abundance of wild fish populations, protect the habitats that support productive fishing grounds, and encourage environmentally responsible fish farming.”
Since 1999, the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program has released consumer pocket guides that help consumers choose seafood that is caught or farmed in sustainable ways. It has distributed more than eight million pocket guides nationwide, including five regional guides, one national guide, and two pocket guides in Spanish (a West Coast regional guide and a national guide). Seafood Watch collaborates with more than 100 partners nationwide to distribute pocket guides and promote sustainable seafood.
The aquarium also works with major seafood buyers to help shift their purchases to sustainable seafood items. In just the last year, companies including retailing giant Wal-Mart and Compass Group North America, the largest contract food service company in the western hemisphere, have announced plans to buy only seafood from sustainable sources.
The Seafood Watch program includes a team of fisheries researchers who evaluate the most popular seafood items on the market and make consumer recommendations that each item is either a “Best Choice,” “Good Alternative” or a species to “Avoid” based on whether it is caught or farmed in a sustainable manner.
Researchers evaluate each species on criteria that include: the level of bycatch observed (other fish and wildlife caught and killed accidentally while fishing for one species); other impacts from fishing methods (including damage to habitat needed by other ocean wildlife); and, for farmed species, the farming methods, and how well the fishery or aquaculture operation is managed.
“We now have a clear indication of what will likely happen if we fail to act,” said George Leonard, senior science manager for Seafood Watch. “By using our Seafood Watch pocket guides, consumers and businesses can make choices based on the best available information and support environmentally friendly fisheries and aquaculture operations.”
“We still have time to forestall the demise of wild-caught seafood,” said Sutton. “But only if we all make better choices and give preference to seafood caught in a manner that doesn’t destroy the marine ecosystems on which healthy oceans depend.”
More information about Seafood Watch, Seafood Watch partners and printable pocket guides are available at www.seafoodwatch.org. Information about the Science study can be found online at http://www.eurekalert.org/pubnews.php.
DIRE WARNING ABOUT FUTURE OF SEAFOOD LENDS NEW URGENCY TO MAKING BETTER CHOICES
SeafoodWatch.org from the Monterey Bay Aquarium
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For information contact: November 2, 2006
Ken Peterson (831)-648-4922; kpeterson@mbayaq.org
Karen Jeffries (831) 644-7548; kjeffries@mbayaq.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monterey Bay Aquarium experts: Changes in individual, business
buying habits can save ocean wildlife
Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood experts said today that consumers and businesses have a dramatic new reason to choose seafood that comes only from sustainable sources: a newly published study in the journal Science warning that the world’s wild-caught seafood fisheries could collapse by 2050.
The alert from Seafood Watch comes in response to publication of the paper by an international group of ecologists and economists who forecast dire consequences if current commercial fishing patterns continue.
“Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the oceans species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood,” says Dr. Steven Palumbi of Stanford University, a co-author of the Science paper.
“These dramatic findings suggest we need to find new ways to restore healthy fisheries and safeguard our seafood supply,” said Michael Sutton, vice president and director for the Center for the Future of the Oceans at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. “It’s imperative that consumers and businesses alike use their buying power to expand the market for seafood from sustainable sources.”
“Much of the seafood on the market today is caught or farmed in ways that are not sustainable over the long term,” said Jennifer Dianto, senior manager of the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. “The only way we can keep seafood in our diet is by making choices that preserve the abundance of wild fish populations, protect the habitats that support productive fishing grounds, and encourage environmentally responsible fish farming.”
Since 1999, the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program has released consumer pocket guides that help consumers choose seafood that is caught or farmed in sustainable ways. It has distributed more than eight million pocket guides nationwide, including five regional guides, one national guide, and two pocket guides in Spanish (a West Coast regional guide and a national guide). Seafood Watch collaborates with more than 100 partners nationwide to distribute pocket guides and promote sustainable seafood.
The aquarium also works with major seafood buyers to help shift their purchases to sustainable seafood items. In just the last year, companies including retailing giant Wal-Mart and Compass Group North America, the largest contract food service company in the western hemisphere, have announced plans to buy only seafood from sustainable sources.
The Seafood Watch program includes a team of fisheries researchers who evaluate the most popular seafood items on the market and make consumer recommendations that each item is either a “Best Choice,” “Good Alternative” or a species to “Avoid” based on whether it is caught or farmed in a sustainable manner.
Researchers evaluate each species on criteria that include: the level of bycatch observed (other fish and wildlife caught and killed accidentally while fishing for one species); other impacts from fishing methods (including damage to habitat needed by other ocean wildlife); and, for farmed species, the farming methods, and how well the fishery or aquaculture operation is managed.
“We now have a clear indication of what will likely happen if we fail to act,” said George Leonard, senior science manager for Seafood Watch. “By using our Seafood Watch pocket guides, consumers and businesses can make choices based on the best available information and support environmentally friendly fisheries and aquaculture operations.”
“We still have time to forestall the demise of wild-caught seafood,” said Sutton. “But only if we all make better choices and give preference to seafood caught in a manner that doesn’t destroy the marine ecosystems on which healthy oceans depend.”
More information about Seafood Watch, Seafood Watch partners and printable pocket guides are available at www.seafoodwatch.org. Information about the Science study can be found online at http://www.eurekalert.org/pubnews.php.
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