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A new report finds some retailers making great progress in offering better fish selections, while other are floundering.
Avoid buying seafood from major retailers that don’t offer environmentally friendly seafood choices; learn which choices are unhealthy for you and bad news for the ocean.
07-01-09 RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—The fish we see in our supermarket’s seafood section can come from all over the world. Some are farm-raised, some are wild-caught, and many are harvested in ways that are destroying fish populations, throwing the balance of ocean ecosystems into a tizzy. Some can even be tainted with contaminants that are detrimental to our health. The good news is some retailers are taking action to incorporate sustainability policy into their seafood selections. Others are not, but you can vote with your dollars to motivate food markets to offer the best fish for the health of your family and the oceans.
THE DETAILS: A new report looking at the sustainability of seafood sold in major retailers found that 9 of the 20 surveyed are apparently doing nothing to improve the health of our oceans, while others are making positive changes. Greenpeace released the findings in its third edition of Carting Away the Oceans, basing its rankings on four categories integral to sustainability in seafood sales: policy, initiative support, transparency, and inventory. Researchers found that Aldi, Costco, Giant Eagle, H.E.B., Meijer, Price Chopper, Publix, Trader Joe’s, and Winn Dixie are ignoring scientific warnings regarding the crisis many fisheries and ocean ecosystems are encountering. Trader Joe’s ranked worst among the national supermarket chains surveyed. None of the supermarkets analyzed received a “good” score, but several improved significantly and received Greenpeace’s passing grade.
Top scorers (out of a possible 100 points)
1. Wegmans (score: 59)
2. Ahold USA (Stop & Shop, Giant, Martin’s Food Markets; score: 57)
3. Whole Foods Market (Harry’s Farmers market, Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats; score: 54)
4. Target (score: 51)
5. Safeway (score: 50)
6. Harris Teeter (score: 49)
7. Wal-Mart (42)
WHAT IT MEANS: As a consumer, you can use your purchasing power to convince supermarkets to turn around the crisis facing our oceans today so we can enjoy fish tomorrow. “Shopping for fish at an obvious seafood sustainability laggard like Trader Joe’s, for example, is something I would highly encourage consumers to rethink,” says Casson Trenor, senior markets campaigner for Greenpeace. “If we can send this message to the poor performers in the list, we can work together to change their behavior.” Supermarkets play a big part in the future of our fragile oceans, and consumers and retailers can work together to ensure we don’t wipe out species forever.
Here’s how you can make a difference.
• Stay away from the red fish list. Consumer and environmental groups have put together lists of fish to avoid because they are overfished and low in numbers, they contain unhealthy contaminants like mercury or PCBs that can harm human development, or both. While supermarkets probably shouldn’t be selling red list fish in the first place, many sell all, or some, of them. Here are some you should avoid, both to protect your health and to preserve the species:
Chilean sea bass—The U.S. is the largest market for this fish, and if supermarkets stopped carrying it, and restaurants stopped offering it, the wild populations would have a shot at rebounding. According to Greenpeace, unless people stop eating Chilean sea bass, it may be commercially extinct within five years.
Atlantic salmon (a.k.a farmed salmon)—Salmon farms spread parasites to wild salmon runs and devastate young fish. In fact, the salmon farms in British Columbia are the main reason behind the crashing wild salmon populations in that area, explains Trenor. Look for wild-caught Alaska salmon.
Atlantic halibut—The International Union for Conservation of Nature has added this species to its endangered list.
Shark—Killed mainly for their fins, these predatory fish are dwindling in number. They’re not good to eat, either. Because they eat many other fish, their bodies accumulate high levels of mercury, which can impair human development and cause heart disease.
Bluefin tuna—This fish produces expensive sushi, and as a result, it’s been severely overfished. That doesn’t just threaten the bluefin tuna population, but also the sea turtles, seabirds, and sharks that get tangled in the long-line fishing method used to catch this fish. Bluefin tuna is also contaminated with high levels of mercury and PCBs that threaten human health.
Orange roughy—These deep-sea fish can live for up to nearly 150 years, but populations are crashing because of overfishing. Fishing methods also damage a certain type of coral, and kill many other species of fish in the processing.
For a full, list of fish to avoid, and healthier alternatives, visit Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch.
• Buy American. Although this is not a perfect option, Trenor says it’s often a good idea to buy American when it comes to seafood. “The U.S. seafood-management schemes are far from perfect, but tend to be much better than those of many other countries,” she says. Plus, seafood from the U.S. has a much smaller chance of being “IUU,” that is, illegal, unregulated, and unreported, a.k.a “pirate-fished.”
• Favor health-boosting fish. Eating certain fish provides a boost of omega-3 fatty acids, which calm inflammation in your body and could even help protect you against heart disease and cancer, according to many studies. Fish that are high in omega-3s, and low in contaminants like mercury and PCBs, include wild-caught Alaskan salmon, sardines, anchovies, and mackerel.
For more information on making better choices in the seafood section, visit Greenpeace's green fish section.
By Leah Zerbe
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