Do you watch which seafood you eat?
When my wife and I visited the San Francisco area last month, we spent a morning enjoying the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey. Whenever we travel, we try to enjoy local foods. So, we figured, we’re on the coast, we should sample more seafood.
We did so, and at one restaurant I ordered a sampler that included tuna, salmon and swordfish. I’d never eaten the latter. It was good, and I ordered a full serving at a Monterey restaurant.
Only after later visiting the aquarium did I learn that swordfish can be one plate to avoid. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch has created a West Coast Sustainable Seafood Guide, which says to avoid imported swordfish but lists U.S. swordfish as a good alternative. I don’t know whether or not the fish I ordered was imported.
The aquarium offers handy little folding cards that list “best choices” along with “good alternatives” and fish to “avoid.” Those to avoid are “overfished or caught or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.”
The aquarium is amazing and quite educational. If you’re ever visiting that area, don’t miss it. Before our trip, several Janesville people told us it was worth seeing, and they were right.
Since returning home, I also did something else I’ve never done before. Instead of just grabbing the average can of Bumblebee or Chicken of the Sea, I looked for the guide’s “good alternative” of white Albacore tuna.
A small can cost maybe 60 cents more, and it had a distinctly different taste than my usual purchase, but I don’t eat it every day, so the extra expense was worth it.
Do you eat with an environmental conscience? Do you avoid certain seafoods because of such concerns?
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or gpeck@gazettextra.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook
Jul 11, 2012 at 9:55 a.m.
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No...I seafood, I eat it.
Jul 11, 2012 at 9:30 a.m.
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The only time I eat seafood is when my wife makes me taste hers. It usually goes like this...
wife..."Here, try this honey, it doesn't taste fishy at all."
(fork gets shoved into my mouth)
wife...."did you like it?"
me...."No. It tastes fishy."
ahhh, the things we do for love.
Jul 11, 2012 at 8:37 a.m.
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When I'm eating smoked fish with heads, I watch to see if it's looking back at me.
Jul 11, 2012 at 8:15 a.m.
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Salmon, swordfish or tuna? A majority of readers can't afford the first two and tuna seems pretty "pricey" also. For the average reader vacations are probably out of the picture too. When it comes to seafood, mackerel seems like a cheaper alternative. I've seen and heard older people discussing the merits and flavors of various cat foods in the grocery store. When hungry, if you see food eat it, "environmental conscience" be damned. Holy mackerel, even Rock River salmon (carp) seem like a good food source now-a-days.
Jul 11, 2012 at 6:22 a.m.
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Every fish caught and eaten from our area has mercury in it as well. Just watch how much you eat.
Jul 10, 2012 at 11:25 p.m.
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I recently returned from a vacation on Cape Cod where I found it necessary to indulge in as much fresh seafood as possible. My dining consisted of fried clams, lobster (lobstah), etc, etc and so forth. Let’s face the facts; there is pollution in our entire human food chain. We need to control the pollution as much as we can but we cannot eliminate it. We need to adapt like other species, and we do.
Jul 10, 2012 at 7:35 p.m.
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A simple rule to follow - if someone from San Francisco thinks it is a good idea, run, run fast and far from it.
Jul 10, 2012 at 6:54 p.m.
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If they serve it at the Frying Dutchman, I serve it to my stomach.
Jul 10, 2012 at 4:43 p.m.
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White albacore tuna is EXTREMELY high in mercury and should be avoided at all costs by children and women of childbearing age.
Jul 10, 2012 at 3:40 p.m.
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As someone who tries to eat a lot of fish, it is very important to pay attention to where the fish came from. Is it from the wild or farmed? From U.S. waters or Asian? Part of this is environmental awareness and part of it is just a survival instinct. Some fish have high mercury content and some have to be transported thousands of miles to get to Wisconsin. Salmon, tilapia, shrimp, scallops, clams, tuna, frog legs and other fish all have nutritional and environmental issues attached. If you eat a lot of any kind of meat or fish, it is best to practice an attitude of Buyer, be aware.
Jul 10, 2012 at 3:08 p.m.
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Can an American-only consumption compliance with guidelines have a measurable effect on the world's fisheries when other countries fishing fleets don't heed them?
Jul 10, 2012 at 2:51 p.m.
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I believe I read somewhere that solid white Albacore tuna has the highest concentration of Mercury. Might just be any white tuna though.
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