How many sustainable sushi bars do you think there are in America? The answer – not many. In fact, according to a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the one and only sustainable sushi bar in the United States is San Francisco’s Tataki Sushi & Sake Bar.
But this might soon change. Three concerned organizations – the Blue Ocean Institute, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Environmental Defense Fund have joined together and created some guidelines to help consumers make informed decisions regarding the fish they choose for their sushi. The result is easy-to-access pocket sized and color-coded guides to sustainable sushi. Each organization’s guide is unique, but the information they provide is the same. And they all offer the same message – what you choose will impact the future of the ocean.
The Blue Ocean Institute offers a 2-page Guide to Ocean Friendly Sushi to download. Have a read but don’t worry about memorizing it. Dining out, you can always text FISH and the species name to 30644 and get instantaneous information about the fish’s sustainability! Regular sushi eaters can even download a cell-phone friendly seafood guide.
California’s famous Monterey Bay Aquarium has created the Seafood Watch Sushi Guide to download and also provides a mobile guide at mobile.seafoodwatch.org that you can log onto by phone while in the restaurant.
The Environmental Defense Fund’s has a new sushi selector that lists the best and worst sushi choices, as well as a downloadable pocket guide anda mobile phone guide.
Here’s hoping that these guides will guide sushi lovers to more ocean friendly bites. You might also consider trying out pearls of sustainability (a.k.a. oysters) and the most eco friendly tuna choice, as well.
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