10 ways to ensure the fish you are eating is sustainably caught and healthy.

One of the most confusing oceans to navigate is that of seafood. First there’s the question of mercury and other contaminants. How do you avoid those? Then comes the issue of a reliable source. Where breeds the healthiest fish, and sustainably so at that? Lastly, and equally as important, how’s the fish supposed to look, feel and smell? All these considerations are quite overwhelming and often end with a frustrating shrug and sigh.

With so much to consider, it can be tricky to get your buck’s worth in terms of your health and the environment. Luckily, we’ve done the research and have put together ten ways you can ensure you are eating the most sustainable fish the world has to offer.

Do Your Homework

Before going to the grocery store, check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch for a comprehensive guide to ocean-friendly seafood. According to the organization’s Communications Director Ken Peterson, “Seafood Watch is far and away the source used by consumers and major seafood buyers in North America to shape their seafood buying decisions in ways that promote healthy fisheries and healthy oceans.” The site outlines each fish’s market name, where it is caught and  how it is caught, indicating which variation of a particular fish is the “Best Choice,” a “Good Alternative,” or one to “Avoid.”

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Choose seafood that is not only good for you, but also good for the environment. Monterey Bay Aquarium has created a “Super Green” list including seafood with the highest levels of omega-3s and the lowest levels of contaminants as well as a summary of the “Best Choice” ranked fish on the organization’s Seafood Watch. These recommendations apply to women of childbearing age, men and children, so they can be trusted to take everyone into account.

Know How Fish is Caught

Select fish that is caught using methods with lower environmental impact such as hand-lining or potting. The Marine Conservation Society explains the various fish-catching methods and why some are better than others.

Carry a Pocket Guide

Most of us don’t have the time to research when making an impromptu stop at the fish market, so being equipped with a fish list is a way to ensure you always make the most well-informed decision come check-out time. The Environmental Defense Fund has put together the easy-to navigate Pocket Seafood Selector and Pocket Sushi Selector to give you a helping hand.

Choose a Reliable Market

Keep tabs on your local grocery stores and inquire how often each receives its seafood shipments and what the regular turnover is. The higher the rate of seafood turnaround, the more likely the fish you buy is as fresh as can be.

Don’t Buy Fishy Fish

Given that we associate the “fishy” smell with something that has gone putrid, under no circumstances should you purchase fish that smells nasty, acidic, or pungent. Fresh fish has the scent of clean water with a slightly briny or cucumber overtone.

Look Skin Deep and Beyond

On the outside, look at the fish and confirm that it is clean and metallic as opposed to dull or discolored. The eyes should be bright and clear and the gills should bear a vibrant red tone – fish that has gone old bears gills with a faded brick color. On the inside, make sure that if there is liquid on the meat, that it is clear instead of milky. Rotting fish will have milky flesh. Don’t forget to press against the flesh of the fish – if an indentation appears and stays, the fish has gone bad.

Ask Questions

When perusing the seafood section of your grocery store or market, take your assumptions with a grain of salt. Engage in conversation with a salesperson, asking questions that aren’t answered by packaging or labeling, and get the scoop on some of the details that aren’t so readily available. It’s rare to be offered information about how fish is caught, so ask for it! Developing a relationship with seafood personnel is also a great way to get the most comprehensive information time and time again.

Rotate Your Fish

Try to venture outside your repertoire of, say, three types of fish and try your hand at making dishes with other fish deemed the healthiest and most environmentally friendly by the “Super Green” list. Eat sustainably across the board, not just with one type.

Spread the Word

Tell your friends and family about seafood sustainability and encourage them to apply these tips to their culinary seafood escapades. The best way to share, you ask? Why, only whilst devouring seared salmon over lentils.

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

Image: tarotastic

The post Pescatarian: 10 Ways to Make Sure You’re Eating the Most Sustainable Fish appeared first on EcoSalon.

Climate Ride is a non-profit organization that organizes fully supported, charitable bike rides to support sustainable energy solutions, bike advocacy, and environmental causes. This is a special guest post from the Climate Ride NYC-DC 2012 participant Jenny Cooper of Environmental Defense Fund. 

Five days, four states, 300 miles of bicycle riding, and 200 hundred incredible people who are all working their tails off to address the greatest challenge of our time: climate change. With a perfect combination of mental and physical challenge, I couldn’t imagine a better adventure than Climate Ride, an epic bicycle ride from NYC to DC to raise awareness and funds for climate change solutions and sustainable transportation.

It’s the final day of my third Climate Ride. The ride yesterday took us through the hilly forests of southern Pennsylvania to the undulating landscape of rural northern Maryland dotted with horse farms. Today we’re pedaling 65 miles to the nation’s capital. Washington, DC here we come!

With nearly 200 riders this spring, Climate Ride is bigger than ever, drawing people from all over the country. We come from different geographic, professional, and cycling backgrounds, but two common threads tie us together: our dedication to finding effective solutions to climate change, and our love for bicycles (in some cases a newfound love!)

Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland and having family in New York, I’ve made the trek from DC to NYC upwards a hundred times in my life, whizzing up and down the I-95 corridor by train or by car. The architecture is largely homogenous and the sprawl rampant; I’m rarely inspired to stop along the way.

Riding my bike between the two cities with Climate Ride is the antithesis of that speedy and faceless experience. Back roads wind us through culturally rich and historically significant towns and across stunning river crossings once forded by Washington’s revolutionary army. We cycle past Amish farms, through state parks lush with trees and steeped in Civil War history, and end our five day adventure in our nation’s capital via a bike path along the Potomac river.

We’ve been biking 60+ miles each day, and each night we spend time as a group listening to speakers (nearly all of them riders) discuss their climate and sustainable transportation related work and explore creative ways to inspire and effect positive social change that will help avert catastrophic climate change.

From large scale sustainability initiatives at major universities, NOAA climate science updates, and climate change adaptation projects in developing countries, to bicycle infrastructure improvements across the globe, sustainable architecture, and climate literacy, the evening speaker series on Climate Ride offers an unparalleled opportunity to engage with people working on climate change issues from myriad angles. We push our physical abilities by day, and expand our brains by night.

Riding my bike connects me to the physical landscape, people, and culture in ways that cars simply can’t. As I pedal south from New York City, I feel the physical and cultural landscapes changing under my bike tires. The towering skyscrapers, potholes, and bustling streets of lower Manhattan shift to the rolling hills of New Jersey, which give way to the farmland and forests of Pennsylvania and the horse and buggies of Amish country.

As I ride through the urban jungle of New York City dotted with green spaces and chock full of high density housing, past the suburban McMansions of northern New Jersey, into Lancaster county where “car back!” becomes “buggy back!” and each house has its laundry hanging out to dry on a clothes line, I can’t help but think about how we design our public and private spaces and allocate resources to infrastructure improvements and construction.

Why do some people feel compelled to live in 10,000 square foot houses, while others are inclined to have 1,000 square foot abodes? Why are the small towns with mixed commercial and residential main streets so much more people-friendly than the strip malls of suburbia? Why are we converting farmland to housing developments scores of miles from supermarkets, schools, and other amenities? And why aren’t the vast majority of our roads built for people, rather than simply cars? Where are the sidewalks and bike lanes? How do these choices effect climate change, and how will our lives and the systems that sustain us be impacted by climate change?

We’ve built our houses, roads, factories, and bridges, based on predictable natural patterns—seasons, rain fall, wind, snow, heat, and cold. Climate change alters those natural patterns in unpredictable ways, threatening our natural and built environment, the very structures that sustain our lives. Climate Ride presents a rare opportunity, enabled by our bicycles, to confront these challenges and questions head on and brainstorm creative solutions. Hope to see you out on the road with us, pedaling our way to a sustainable future!

Learn more about Climate Ride and how you can participate and support the organization here. 

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