Sustainable Seafood: How to Make Environmentally-Friendly Choices
Seafood is a delicious and healthy source of protein, but it's important to make sure you're choosing seafood that is harvested sustainably. With overfishing and other unsustainable practices depleting our oceans' resources, it's important to know how to make environmentally-friendly choices when it comes to seafood. Here are some tips to help you make sustainable seafood choices.
Know What You're Eating
The first step to making sustainable seafood choices is knowing what you're eating. When you're at a restaurant or purchasing seafood at the grocery store, ask questions about where the seafood came from and how it was harvested. Look for labels and certifications that indicate the seafood was caught or farmed sustainably. Some labels to look for include the Marine Stewardship Council, Aquaculture Stewardship Council, and Best Aquaculture Practices.
Choose Ocean-Friendly Seafood
Certain types of seafood are more sustainable than others. When it comes to fish, look for options like salmon, albacore tuna, and Pacific sardines, which are sustainably harvested in many areas. Avoid fish like Chilean sea bass and Atlantic bluefin tuna, which are often overfished.
Look for Responsibly-Farmed Seafood
Farmed seafood can be a good choice when it's done responsibly. Look for farmed seafood that uses environmentally-friendly practices and doesn't rely on antibiotics or other chemicals. Farmed oysters, mussels, and clams are often a good choice, as they actually help purify the water around them.
Try Alternative Seafood Options
There are many sustainable seafood options that may not be as well-known as traditional seafood. Consider trying options like seaweed, which is a good source of protein and can be farmed sustainably, or lionfish, an invasive species that is harming coral reefs and can be caught sustainably.
Conclusion
Making sustainable seafood choices is an important way to help protect our oceans and the seafood populations they contain. By knowing what you're eating, choosing ocean-friendly seafood, looking for responsibly-farmed seafood, and considering alternative seafood options, you can make a difference in the health of our oceans and the world.