Seafood Watch

__NOTOC__Seafood Watch is a program designed to raise consumer awareness about the importance of buying seafood from sustainable sources. It is best known for publishing consumer guides for responsible seafood purchasing in the United States. Seafood Watch is a program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and is a part of the Seafood Choices Alliance.

Seafood Watch has its 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's "What is a fish lover to eat?" which also came out in the late 1990s. [web cite|url=http://www.fishonline.org/information/|work=Fishonline|title=Background, The Sustainable Seafood Movement|]

It gives lists of the best seafood choices, fish to avoid, as well as "good alternatives". The "avoid" category is for seafood which is overfished and/or fished or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.

Health alerts for fish with high levels of contaminants (e.g. mercury, dioxins, PCBs) are also noted, although they may appear in any category.

The Seafood Watch website includes both regional and country-wide 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. The guides are updated twice annually, while the website is updated more often.

Recommended seafood includes Sardines, US-farmed Sturgeon (but not wild caught), Atlantic Croaker, Pacific Halibut, Wreckfish, White Seabass and Dungeness Crab.

Restaurants and retailers are also targeted with an educational program developed by Seafood Watch.

Similar programs worldwide

Guides and advisory lists

*Marine Conservation Society (MCS), [http://www.fishonline.org/ Fishonline] website and "Good Fish Guide" (UK) and Northeast Atlantic)
*Greenpeace: [http://www.greenpeace.org/international/seafood/red-list-of-species International Seafood Red list]
*Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) produces Australia's "Sustainable Seafood Guide", a similar consumer guide, advising consumers which species are in danger of being fished out. [http://www.amcs.org.au/default2.asp?active_page_id=137] [http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,20199760-5004581,00.html]
*Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, [http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/bestfishguide/index.asp Best Fish Guide]
*"The Blue Ocean Institute Seafood Guide", [http://blueocean.org/seafood/] . Based in New York.
*Oceans Alive: [http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=bestandworst Best & Worst Seafood Choices]
*Audubon Society's [http://seafood.audubon.org/ National Seafood Wallet Card] (USA)
*Monterey Fish Market [http://www.webseafood.com/sustainability/seafoodadvisorylist.htm Seafood advisory list] (West Coast, USA)
*"Canada’s Seafood Guide" ( [http://www.seachoice.org/ SeaChoice] ), initiative of Sustainable Seafood Canada
*The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) [http://www.ejfoundation.org/pdf/ejf_prawn_consumer_guide.pdf Consumer Guide To Prawns]

Certification and labelling

*The Marine Stewardship Council has a certification program for consumer seafood products, and lists certified products on its website [http://eng.msc.org/]
* [http://www.vanaqua.org/conservation/oceanwise/ Ocean Wise] , a Vancouver Aquarium conservation program certifying restaurants, and publishing a dining guide.
*Ocean Wise Australia, to be launched by the Australian Conservation Foundation in 2007, is an offshoot of Vancouver's Ocean Wise program.
*Sustainable Fishery Advocates operates the [http://www.sustainablefishery.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=29 FishWise] program for labelling seafood by retailers.
*Earth Island Institute's [http://www.friendofthesea.org Friends of the Sea] certification scheme for products from sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. Also an SMS-based seafood sustainability advisory service.

Consumer health

*Oceana's [http://www.oceana.org/mercury Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination] (USA)

See also

*Conservation status
*Overfishing

References

External links

* [http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp Seafood Watch home]
* [http://www.amcs.org.au/default2.asp?active_page_id=137 Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide]