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Seafood Watch is a
sustainable seafood advisory list, and has influenced similar programs around the world. It is best known for developing science-based
seafood
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...
recommendations that consumers, chefs, and business professionals use to inform their seafood purchasing decisions.
Seafood Watch is a program of the
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Monterey Bay Aquarium is a nonprofit public aquarium in Monterey, California. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it was the first to exhibit a living kelp forest when it opened in October 1984. Its biolo ...
. It has roots in the Monterey Bay Aquarium's ''Fishing for Solutions'' exhibit, which ran from 1997 to 1999 and produced a list of sustainable seafood. It was one of the first resources for sustainable seafood information together with the
Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...
's ''What is a fish lover to eat?'' which also came out in the late 1990s.
Seafood Watch assesses impacts on marine and freshwater ecosystems of fisheries (wild-caught) and aquaculture (farming) operations. The assessments and calculations result in an overall scoring and final rating known as a Seafood Watch Recommendation.
Sustainable seafood list
The organization's recommendations focus on the North American market, suggesting what seafood is a green "Best Choice", yellow "Good Alternative", or a red "Avoid". The "Avoid" category is for seafood which is overfished or fished or farmed in ways that harm other
marine life
Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. ...
or the environment. Health alerts for fish with high levels of contaminants (e.g. mercury,
dioxin
Dioxin may refer to:
* 1,2-Dioxin or 1,4-Dioxin, two unsaturated heterocyclic 6-membered rings where two carbon atoms have been replaced by oxygen atoms, giving the molecular formula C4H4O2
* Dibenzo-1,4-dioxin, the parent compound also known ...
s,
PCBs) are also noted, although they may appear in any category.
The Seafood Watch website includes regional, country-wide, and sushi guides for the United States. Pocket guides are available from the aquarium and further information is on the web site. Several of the regional guides are also available in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
. The guides are updated twice annually, while the website is updated more often. Restaurants and retailers are also targeted with an educational program developed by Seafood Watch.
In 2010 Seafood Watch added its "Super Green" list, which features seafood that it is good for human health and does not harm the oceans. The Super Green list highlights products that are currently on the Seafood Watch "Best Choices" (green) list, are low in environmental contaminants, and are good sources of long-chain
omega-3 fatty acids
Omega−3 fatty acids, also called Omega-3 oils, ω−3 fatty acids or ''n''−3 fatty acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) characterized by the presence of a double bond, three atoms away from the terminal methyl group in their chem ...
.
Seafood Watch partners with zoos, aquariums, science museums, nature centers, and other non-profits to promote sustainable seafood. Its business and culinary initiatives assist seafood buyers, distributors, retailers, food service professionals, and chefs in moving the marketplace towards environmentally responsible fisheries and aquaculture operations. The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Ocean Conservation Policy team works to advance policies and management measures to improve traceability in the global seafood supply chain; eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; strengthen and advocate for fisheries management; and restore shark and
bluefin tuna Bluefin tuna is a common name used to refer to several species of tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, th ...
populations.
Industry criticism
Industry organizations have pushed back against Seafood Watch's efforts. After publication of a sustainable sushi guide, the
National Fisheries Institute, a seafood industry trade group, wrote on its blog that the guides were "confusing and contradictory", adding that they did not fully take into account the economic, environmental and social aspects of seafood sustainability.
See also
*
Conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...
*
Overfishing
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in t ...
*
Sustainable seafood advisory lists and certification
*
Seafood Choices Alliance
*
Mercury in fish
References
External links
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{{fishery science topics, expanded=management
Fishing and the environment
Environmental organizations based in California
Sustainable food system
Consumer guides
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Works about food and drink