Hi all, I just wanted to post this for people who love seafood and are interested in purchasing sustainably raised/caught fish. This list is directly from the Slow Food USA group newsletter, of which I subscribe.
Below is the list of Best Choice seafoods you can purchase from your local fishmonger or market. To learn more, please visit www.seafoodwatch.org.
**Moderators** I am in NO way affiliated with SF USA, just posting this to educate FT'ers who like me, enjoy seafood but want to consume it in a responsible manner. Thank you!


Best Choices:
Arctic Char (farmed)
Barramundi (U.S. farmed)
Catfish (U.S. farmed)
Clams (farmed)
Cod Pacific (Alaska longline)****
Crab: Dungeness, Snow (Canada), Stone
Halibut Pacific
Herring (Atlantic/Sardines)
Lobster Spiny (U.S.)
Mussels (farmed)
Oysters (farmed)
Pollock (Alaska wild)
Salmon (Alaska wild)
Scallops (Bay farmed)
Striped Bass (farmed or wild)
Sturgeon, Caviar (farmed)
Tilapia (farmed)
Trout (Rainbow farmed)
Tuna Albacore (British Columbia, U.S.: troll/pole)
Tuna Skipjack (troll/pole)

Good Alternatives:
Basa/Tra (farmed)
Clams (wild)
Cod: Pacific (trawled)
Crab: Blue, King (Alaska), Snow (U.S.)
Crab: imitation/Surimi
Flounder/Sole (Pacific)
Lobster American/Maine
Mahi mahi/Dolphinfish (U.S.)
Oysters (wild)
Scallops Sea (Northest and Canada)
Shrimp (U.S. farmed or wild)
Squid
Swordfish (U.S. longline)
Tuna Bigeye, Yellowfin (troll/pole)
Tuna canned light, canned white/Albacore

Avoid:
Chilean Seabass/Toothfish
Cod: Atlantic
Crab King (imported)
Flounder/Sole (Atlantic)
Groupers
Halibut (Atlantic)
Lobster Spiny (Carribean imported)
Mahi mahi/Dolphinfish (imported)
Monkfish
Orange Roughy
Rockfish (Pacific)
Salmon (farmed, including Atlantic)
Scallops Sea (Mid-Atlantic)
Sharks
Shrimp (imported farmed or wild)
Snapper Red
Sturgeon, Caviar (imported wild)
Swordfish (imported)
Tuna Albacore, Bigeye, Yellowfin (longline)
Tuna Bluefin

Key:
Northeast = Connecticut-->Maine
Mid-Atlantic = North Carolina-->New York


Again, please visit www.seafoodwatch.org for more information about these recommendations.

I wouldn't consider farm-raised fish very sustainable.

That's ok if you don't, but to me it appears to be pretty sustainable.

Thanks OP for this. However, I'm wondering why Alaskan Salmon isn't on the list?

I thought it would be a pretty sustainable choice, what with poncing off down to the sea for years on end then swimming back up the rivers and streams to jizz off over a million plus eggs before collapsing knackered and getting caught, no?

Fish farms can be breeding pots of various diseases that have potential to wipe out the entire wild salmon etc. population of a particular stream through "escapees" from the farms.

Yeah, my first thought on the lists as posted is "Where is wild-caught salmon?" Perhaps they consider it somewhere in that vague space between recommended and avoid.

Anyway, just wanted to point out that I don't think you mean the link above. Seafoodwatch.com is a standard domain squatter placeholder site. I think you mean Seafoodwatch.org, which redirects here: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp

Edit: If you look at this pdf http://www2.warnerbros.com/happyfeet...nerSFWcard.pdf you see that Alaskan wild salmon is actually certified sustainable, and thus it is listed under Best Choices. So it's just an oversight on OP list.

Ya I was just typing too fast, thank you for the corrections, I'll edit my post ^

I agree that there's that potential, however, well managed fish farms that are run according to govt. regulations minimize the risk of farm raised fish getting out into the wild and interacting with wild stocks. The other aspect I think about when the farm vs wild debate comes up is that you simply cannot get people to up and quit eating fish, there will be a demand so instead of overfishing the oceans like we're doing now, the best alternative is to run fish farms to satisfy that demand, while letting the wild stocks regenerate in time.

The atlantic salmon farms in B.C. are supposed to cause problems for the wild pacific stock by introducing sea lice, pollute the bottoms of bays, as well as the mentioned escapes.

I wish the U.S. would just ban their import as it would probably close them all down overnight.

It seems ironic that Atlantic salmon is farmed in the Pacific region!

I much prefer any Pacific salmon, or really any wild fish, over farmed fish. The only excetion is Artic Char (although I didn't realize it was farmed).

This thread made me remember this article about the possible future of farmed blue fin tuna
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/6189975.stm

It was in the news yesterday about Gordon Ramsey withdrawing Blue Fin Tuna from his restaurant menus.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/thi...cle2594171.ece

I've not eaten Cod for a very long time and am always amazed when fish and chip shops in London offer no alternatives to cod (I always walk out). It's a common phenomenon to have a shop like this offer only one kind of fish.

I love Cod but I am very concerned about the future f that fish in the North Atlantic and therefore avoid it. There are a number of fish and chippies in London and the Home Counties offering alternatives to cod these days. I might have been lucky, but most places I have been to have other fish available. Some quite exotic too.

I cannot emphasize enough, PLEASE do NOT eat Atlantic Cod or Atlantic Bluefin Tuna! We really need to let the Cod stocks replenish themselves and we REALLY need to stop eating Atlantic/Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna. I only wish those in Asia would take note of this and stop ordering Bluefin in their Sushi/Sashimi.

Agree with you. ^

Because the population is diminishing? Or some other reason?