salmon

They say that you should find at least one good cause to support. For me, as much as I love cooking and learning about food it’s been pretty apparent that there’s a growing movement around finding sustainable food. I’ve only just started to become educated on the subject but it’s been interesting looking for resources specific to seafood sustainability in San Diego.

But first, what is seafood sustainability and why is it important to the food I eat? According to one website, “It is seafood that is fished or farmed without compromising fish populations or marine habitats. Moreover, sustainable seafood is also generally healthier and of higher quality than the run-of-the-mill seafood.” Basically, it means that we don’t take fish from the ocean faster than they can be replenished and the manner in which we catch the fish is friendly to the environment.

When you look at farming techniques like Salmon farms, not only are they unhealthy for you to eat but they can actually hurt the environment more than just “traditional” fishing in the wild since many of these farms release pollutants into the water from the overcrowding of fish. Also, according to some predictions, Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048.

As a sushi fan, and a big Salmon fan, it was concerning to realize that many of the fish the local restaurants and grocery stores are serving are farmed Salmon and not wild caught.

So what can someone do? Well for me, the first step is to get educated and that’s the step I’m on right now. Below are a few resources that I’ve found that help describe what you can do to help the cause:

Seafood Watch – A great resource for learning more about seafood sustainability and especially great for sushi lovers. Download a free pocket guide or access their site on the go from your cell phone to help choose the right seafood to select.

**Updated – Seafood Watch has been doing a great job with releasing easy to access mobile apps and pocket guides to make it easy to select the right choices. Check out the widget at the bottom of this post.

Marine Stewardship Council – The MSC is the world’s leading certification and ecolabelling program for sustainable seafood. Look for the blue MSC ecolabel when shopping or dining out.

Finding Sustainable Seafood in San Diego – Those of us local to San Diego will find this article interesting as it has a few local links to also investigate.

San Diego Roots: Sustainable Food Project – A list of San Diego Restaurants that use locally grown food.

In Fish We Trust – San Diego’s one-stop-shop for sustainable seafood. Another great list of restaurants in the San Diego area that offer sustainable seafood menus.

The End of the Line – I haven’t watched it yet but it’s a documentary on sustainability. “The world’s first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing premiered at Sundance Film Festival.”

Finally, check out for yourself what’s good to eat: