News on the "Seafood Watch" Front

Look for eco-labeled seafood today!

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"Natural." "Organic." "Eco-friendly."

With all the different environmental claims floating around these days it's hard to know what they really mean and whether they represent truly sustainable options. When it comes to seafood, the bright blue eco-label of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has been an important part of European seafood shoppers' experience for years - and it's growing in recognition here in the United States. Consumers like you can feel confident that this label is the most credible sustainable seafood eco-label in the marketplace today.

This year the MSC, is celebrating its tenth year as the global certification standard for wild-caught seafood. Recently the World Wildlife Fund, which co-founded the MSC, announced it plans to develop a similar Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) for farm-raised seafood. For a wild fishery to become certified as sustainable to the MSC standard, three criteria are reviewed by an objective, third-party auditor. They assess the sustainability of the fish population, the impact of this fishery on the ecosystem and the effectiveness of the fishery's management plan. Only seafood products from certified fisheries can display the MSC eco-label, and these products are fully traceable through the supply chain back to the certified fishery.

To help you find these products, Sea Food Watch identifies all fisheries certified to the MSC standard. Look for the blue plus sign ( + ) on our pocket guides, or the blue eco-label with our seafood recommendations on the website.

Here's what you can do:

1. Use seafoodwatch.org to find out if your favorite fish are certified, and then look for the MSC eco-label on seafood products when you eat out or go shopping for seafood. You can find MSC-labeled products -- frozen, canned and fresh -- at many major retail locations. Note: Even if a fishery is not yet MSC-certified, you can rely on Seafood Watch "best choice" options for farmed or wild seafood by using our recommendations. (Our iPhone and mobile applications make this easier than ever!)

2. The more common the Marine Stewardship Council eco-label becomes in the marketplace, the easier it will be for everyone to make sustainable seafood choices. So, please share this information with your friends so they'll know what to look for, too.

3. Ask your favorite restaurant or retailer to offer more MSC-certified seafood. You can direct grocery store and restaurant managers to the MSC website, where they can learn how to find suppliers of certified seafood.

Support the Shark Conservation Act of 2009

Hammerhead sharks Worldwide, shark populations are in steep decline; studies estimate that the number of large sharks and other top ocean predators has fallen by as much as 90 percent in recent decades.

Each year, tens of millions of sharks die as a result of shark finning, in which their fins are harvested to make shark fin soup and the still-living animals are thrown overboard.

New legislation promises to finally halt shark finning in U.S. waters. Take Action today!

~ Serena Federman

Seafood Watch Program
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Ban Shark Finning

The new Congress has hit the ground running, with the introduction of the Shark Conservation Act (HR 81). This bill would require that sharks caught in all U.S. waters be landed whole with their fins still attached. We're asking you to contact your Representative and ask him or her to help ensure fast passage of this important piece of legislation.

We've started 2009 off on the right foot with our Dr. Lark victory and the introduction of the Shark Conservation Act- and you made it happen. Please keep the momentum going by taking action today in support of the Shark Conservation Act.

Resources:
Oceana
Troubled Waters

Save Our Oceans Using your Cell Phone!

Get Seafood Watch Recommendations on your Cell Phone
The MBA new iPhone application brings the most up-to-date Seafood Watch recommendations right to your iPhone or iPod touch.

Just download the app to make sustainable seafood choices quickly and easily, whether you're eating at your favorite restaurant or shopping at your local market. To find out more and download the app, visit mobile seafood watch.org

Or browse the App Store on your iPhone or iPod touch and download the free, official app from the Monterey Bay Aquarium directly to your device.

Features of the iPhone app include:

* National seafood recommendations
* Regional seafood recommendations
* Sustainable sushi recommendations
* A list of fish by market names

Don't have an iPhone? Seafood Watch recommendations are available for all cell phones and other mobile devices with an Internet connection. Use your phone to log on to mobile seafood watch.org

Newly Updated 2009 Pocket Guides
The Seafood Watch sushi and regional guides reflect the most popular seafood consumed in each area of the country. As seafood items from one region become more popular in other areas, we add them to the relevant regional version. For the 2009 winter update we've added Arctic Char and Yellowtail to all regional guides; Red Porgy to the Southeast guide; Round Whitefish to the Central US guide. Learn more about the update.

Download printable pocket guide or order pocket guides. You can also view pocket guides on your mobile device at mobile.seafoodwatch.org.

Stop Over Fishing

Overfishing means catching fish faster than they can reproduce. Overfishing pushes the fish population lower and lower, until fish are so few that fishermen can't make a living any more. Many fisheries have already collapsed, throwing thousands of people out of work. All over the world, fishery after fishery booms as we send in more boats, then busts as the fish population crashes.

Off New England, cod were once so plentiful that boats had trouble pushing through them. Now the cod are nearly gone, and a centuries-old fishing tradition is ending. Other overfished species include sharks, bluefin tuna and many kinds of West Coast rockfish. When one kind of fish is no longer plentiful, fishermen must move on to new species. Monkfish and sharks were once discarded as "trash fish," but now they're valuable—and are themselves overfished! Overfishing has also forced fishermen to look deeper for new species like orange roughy and Chilean seabass.

Chilean seabass live at least 40 years, orange roughy at least 100. A Pacific rockfish caught in 2001 was 205 years old—born when Washington was still president! Such slow-growing fishes are very vulnerable to overfishing; choose seafood from our Green List instead.

Take Action to Stop Over Fishing

Careless Fishing is Depleting Sea Life World Wide

Bycatch = Fish and Animals Caught and Wasted

Worldwide, fisheries throw away 25% of their catch According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, one in four animals caught in fishing gear dies as bycatch; unwanted or unintentional catch. Tons of fish are tossed out, dead or dying, because they're not the kind the fishermen wanted to catch. The discarded animals may have no market value, or there may be no room on the boat to bring them to shore. Or the bycatch may be a marketable species, but too small to sell. Sometimes, fish are discarded because the fishermen lack the proper permits to land them. Dolphins, sea turtles, seals and whales all get caught by accident in fishing gear and drown. Seabirds, including endangered albatrosses, drown when they snatch baited hooks and are pulled under water. It is estimated that for each pound of shrimp caught in a trawl net, an average of two to ten pounds of other marine life is caught and discarded overboard as bycatch. Millions of sharks are caught as bycatch and die in gear meant for other fishes, such as longlining. The central line is three to 50 miles long and is allowed to "soak" in the ocean, attracting anything that swims by. Bycatch hurts us all Sharks, swordfish and red snapper are just a few of the fishes harmed by accidental kills. Bycatch often takes young fish that could rebuild depleted populations if they were allowed to grow up and breed. The animals we catch and throw away have important roles to play in marine food webs. By killing these animals, we're taking food away from tunas, salmon, swordfish, dolphins, sea lions and other ocean wildlife. People made a difference for dolphins! Consumer pressure works. The U.S. and Europe are the biggest markets for canned tuna. But when hundreds of thousands of dolphins died as bycatch in purse seine nets, concerned consumers forced the tuna industry to change. Unfortunately, some "dolphin-safe" fishing methods are not safe for sea turtles, sharks, wahoo, mahi-mahi and young tunas. These animals, and many others, die at staggering rates now that purse seiners are working to avoid dolphins.

Be Part of the Solution By making better seafood choices using the Seafood Watch card, you know which fish are caught with little bycatch. That way you can support responsible fishermen and help reduce wasted catch. The way we fish makes a difference. Some fishing methods are selective and take little bycatch; other ways of fishing take a heavy toll. Catching shrimp in trawl nets can kill up to 10 pounds of other animals for each pound of shrimp. New devices, like the Nordmore grate, are helping to reduce bycatch in some shrimp trawl fisheries. Even better, catching shrimp in traps lets fishermen release 98% of unwanted animals alive.

Resource: Monterey Bay Aquarium

http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp

Take Action