|
Defining Sustainability in Seafood
In defining sustainability, there are some intricacies that are still up for debate. For example, there has been a steady demand for wild-caught, chemical free shrimp from our owners despite the mounting evidence that shrimp farming, when done correctly, is equally or more sustainable, despite the stigma that aquatic farming carries. As a result, we carry both chemical-free, all-natural, domestic, wild shrimp as well as farmed, all-natural, chemical free domestic shrimp.
The difficulty with declaring one’s “sustainability” is that there are so many factors that contribute to such a title, and not everyone agrees on what issues are most important. A good example would be that of bay scallops, rated by Blue Ocean Institute as among the most sustainable seafood available. The problem is that the US bay scallops population has been all but obliterated, effectively making China sole provider of the bay scallops available to this country, despite the fact bay scallops have never been known to occur naturally in Chinese waters. Furthermore, there is not any kind of international oversight of this operation and no guarantee of fair labor practices. For these reasons, although Chinese bay scallops may be technically sustainable, they do not fall in line with our buying standards. Instead, we carry only fresh, dry packed sea scallops.
Sustainability Watch - Orange Roughy
In a previous article from the Seafood Department, we stated that we felt confident in the New Zealand Parliament’s claims as to the sustainability of Orange Roughy when fished in accordance with that country’s laws, as well as the thoroughly documented practices of Sanford Limited, the fishery from whom we purchased our supply. While we are still encouraged by Sanford Limited’s sustainability reports, the New Zealand government has recently been criticized for not taking sufficient steps toward sustainability. That country’s High Court has recently overturned a decision by the New Zealand Minister of Fisheries to lower the quota of fish available to the fishing industry. Due to this unfortunate choice on the part of the New Zealand government, and after some further deliberation on the subject, the Common Market Seafood Department has decided to no longer carry Orange Roughy. The arguments for and against fishing Roughy are becoming more tangled by the moment, and it is our opinion that it is best to err on the side of sustainability. We will continue to monitor this situation, and in the future, if the circumstances change significantly for the better, we will reconsider our decision. The Seafood Department sincerely apologizes to any disappointed parties. It’s one of my favorite fish, too.
Sources: http://www.sanford.co.nz/, http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0802/S00317.htm
Back to Seafood
|
