by Sue Moore

According to the folks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program "nearly 70 percent of the world's fisheries are fully fished or overfished and about thirty million tons --that's sixty trillion pounds--of fish, sharks, and seabirds die each year as wasted catch". So knowing the conservation status of the fish you are buying and how it is caught is of the utmost importance. The future of the fish supply and the health of the oceans depend on it. To help you make an informed decision download the Seafood Watch Pocket Guide and tuck it into your wallet for easy reference.

The guide is divided into three sections: Best Choice, Caution, and Avoid. The website provides extensive backup for the classification of each fish. For example, Swordfish (Atlantic) is on the 'Avoid' list but the Swordfish (U.S. West Coast) is in the 'Caution' category. Want to know why? Simply click on Swordfish and you learn that:

"A single species of swordfish is found around the world, with major U.S. fisheries on both East and West Coasts. Swordfish are usually caught on longlines, which kill adult and juvenile swordfish indiscriminately. Atlantic swordfish numbers have dwindled drastically since the 1970's. There are now federal limits on U.S. swordfishing, but much swordfish is imported from other nations, and the worldwide industry still threatens the overall stock. The Pacific fishery is less understood, and the current catch level may be sustainable, but the longlines used to catch Pacific swordfish are also known to snag high levels of bycatch, including young tuna, sharks and sea turtles."

There you have it. If you want to dig deeper there are links to more detailed resources. If you are in a hurry each entry has a handy chart listing status, origin, and conservation issues. And the illustrations are fabulous. Check out the monkfish -before it's too late.

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