Well one little known fact about the Eco Chic; I love salmon! My husband is not as big of a fan but he will endure a meal every so often to please me. My son usually enjoys it unless he’s in his pickey food mood. With this year being a journey of ways we can reduce our personal impact I’ve been secretly reducing the amount of red meat we eat each week. (The secret is out now because hubby reads this.) It’s a health reason more than an environmental reason but I always think about the environment when I’m grocery shopping. Lately I have been paying attention to where our seafood is from. It’s a shame that I have to pay $12/lb for local shrimp when I can spend $5/lb for the shrimp that is frozen and transported from who knows where. Money usually is the determining factor when we make those decisions though. I was just reading on Yahoo Green that the Pacific Fishery Management Council has banned all commercial and recreational fishing of Chinook Salmon (aka King Salmon). We don’t normally buy the expensive wild-salmon (again a price issue) but purchase the farm raised salmon instead. I was also reading the differences between the wild and farm raised salmon. It appears that the farm raised salmon is worse on the environment and isn’t as healthy as wild salmon. There are more toxins found in farm raised salmon.
So I guess this will be my Earth Day pledge this year; no more farm raised salmon. I guess that also means I’ll be taking a one year break from having salmon in my diet. This really makes me sad; but I do know from all my education as an aquatic biologist that the ecosystems need a break sometimes so that the fish and aquatic life will survive.
What are some other types of fish that are less environmentally harmfull? Yahoo Green suggested some of my husbands favorites (he’ll be happy!!!): US Tilapia, Rainbow Trout, and US Catfish (his absolute favorite). I guess the only catch is that the fish should be from the US and not from China or somewhere else. You can also visit the Montery Bay Aquarium’s website for a complete list of seafood recommendations. Is your favorite fish on the eat or don’t eat list?
Leave a Reply