10.20.2008 9:18 AM

Sustainable Sushi

Sushi Fans, Do You Know Which Choices Are Best for Your Health and the Environment?

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Photo: Paul Johnson / Istock

By Annie Bell Muzaurieta

Craving some raw fish, but aren't sure if your choices are eco-friendly ones?

Guidance is on the way. Three ocean conservancy organizations--Blue Ocean Institute, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Environmental Defense Fund--have published their own pocket guides to sustainable sushi, which will be available October 22.

The mini color-coded guides indicate whether or not your plate poses a risk to the ocean's future and your health, considering factors such as the levels of mercury or PCBs that might be present.

Tim Fitzgerald, marine scientist for Environmental Defense Fund, is quoted in press release: "These new guides not only enable sushi lovers to choose fish that are caught or farmed responsibly, they also highlight selections that are healthy for them and their families."

The groups are asking for your help in celebrating the launch by going out for a sustainable dinner at your local sushi bar during Sustainable Sushi Week--October 22 to October 28. Starting October 22, get the full guides online or order a hardcopy at the organizations' websites.

The red list includes species that are either overfished, farmed with aquaculture methods that pollute the ocean, or caught using methods that destroy ocean habitats or kill large amounts of other sea life (the reason is indicated for each fish in the pocket guide). The green list details fish that come from abundant, well-managed fisheries or are raised using sustainable aquaculture methods.

On the red list (fish to avoid):
bluefin tuna (hon maguro/kuro maguro)
freshwater eel (unagi)
farmed salmon (sake)

On the green list:
wild-caught Alaska salmon (sake)
farmed scallops (hotate)
Pacific halibut (hirame)

Now go eat!

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