Fishing for the best seafood choices
I once went to an extremely expensive restaurant that had on the menu — I’m not kidding — “rain-washed” strawberries. I had to laugh. It seemed to me the adjective “rain-washed” was just an attempt to make the strawberries sound more “natural,” and an excuse to add several dollars to the dish. So when I found the word “diver” modifying “scallops,” I thought it was a bogus excuse to jack up the price. I was wrong. “Diver scallops” — which are indeed more expensive because they are actually hand-harvested by (duh) divers — are way better for the long-term health of the scallop population than those that are dredged, because dredging causes massive habitat destruction. Most supermarket scallops are dredged. You have to seek out “diver scallops” and be willing to pay the big bucks.
And so it goes. Are wild Alaskan salmon better than farm raised? Yes! Farming salmon (among other bad things) releases fish waste into the water and can spread disease and parasites to wild salmon.
This is not some form of “food snobbery” or “political correctness” at work. This is stuff we consumers need to know, and care about, if we want fish to thrive and be available for harvest (read: “eating”) with a minimum of environmental damage.
But how do we keep track? One way is by contacting Seafood Watch (www.SeafoodWatch.org; or 877-229-9990) an informative resource from the Monterey Bay (Calif.) Aquarium. It’s an organization dedicated to “sustainable” fish, described as “seafood that can survive over the long term without compromising … the health of the surrounding ecosystem.” These folks are not anti-fish farming; and include farm-raised fish (catfish, mussels, trout, striped bass) on their “Best Choices” list. Likewise, wild fish given a green light include Alaskan pollock, Alaskan wild salmon, stone crabs, and long-line or pole-caught tuna. You can get a handy pocket guide (also available online) that highlights “Best Choices,” “Good Alternatives” and a list labeled “Avoid.”
Trying to do one’s part may of course require … sigh … some sacrifice. I learned that the Atlantic halibut I love is a no-no; it’s overfished, and the trawling used to harvest it results in the accidental harvesting (“by-catch”) of unmarketable fish that are left to die. I have promised to avoid it (unless it was caught with a hook and line) and stick to Pacific halibut instead. Honoring the list can also mean paying more, or contenting ourselves with less expensive fish like catfish and sardines.
I am now using my Seafood Watch card to cook my way through a colorful new book, “Fast Fish,” by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison (Ten Speed Press, 2005). This way, when I come across some of those Best Choices, I’ll be ready to cook them in the most flavorful way possible. I just have to hope they are “rain-washed.”