This information was compiled for the Pacific NW, but much of it is
probably relevant to other areas of the country as well.......

Conservation and Health Considerations
Can Influence Seafood Choices

There's an old joke that goes, "I'm on a seafood diet. I see
food, and I eat it." Bad humor notwithstanding, virtually everyone
enjoys at least some of the vast cornucopia of seafoods that can be
purchased at a market, ordered at a restaurant, or harvested from the
deck of a recreational boat in the Pacific Northwest. It is absolutely
legal to consume fish and shellfish served by restaurants or to fish
for any species during the designated season, but there can be
conservation issues as well as personal health considerations
associated with the harvesting and consumption of certain seafood. The
Seattle Aquarium (in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium) has
issued a guideline for Pacific Northwest diners and boaters that lists
species in three categories. The first category identifies seafood that
can be harvested and consumed in abundance.
The second lists other seafoods that are good choices but should be
purchased or harvested with some restraint. The third itemizes a group
that are best avoided because the stocks are currently overfished or
the food is farmed or gathered in a way that could harm other marine
life or the general environment.

Diners may want to consider limiting the consumption of choices
followed by an asterisk (*), due to concerns about mercury and other
contaminants.

Best and Healthiest Choices:

Abalone (farmed)
Bass, Striped (if farmed)
Catfish (farmed in the US)
Caviar, (farmed)
Clams, Oysters, Mussels (farmed)
Cod, Pacific (if caught on hook and line)
Crab, Dungeness or Canadian Snow
Halibut, Pacific
Lobster, Spiny (US)
Prawns, Spot (BC)
Pollock, Alaskan (if caught on hook and line)
Sablefish/ Black Cod (from AK or BC)
Salmon (wild, from sustainable AK stocks)
Sardines
Seabass, White
Shrimp, Pink
Sturgeon (farmed)
Tilapia (farmed)
Tuna, Albacore, Bigeye, or Yellowfin (pole or troll caught)

Second Choices:

Basa/Tra (farmed)
Clams, Oysters (wild caught)*
Cod, Pacific (trawl or long-line caught)
Crab, King (AK), Snow (US), imitation
Dogfish (BC)*
Lingcod
Lobster, Maine
Mahi Mahi, Dolphinfish, Dorado
Prawns, Spot (US)
Rockfish (hook and line caught)*
Sablefish/ Black Cod (from CA, OR, WA)
Salmon (wild caught in CA, OR, WA)
Sanddabs
Scallops, Bay or Sea
Shrimp
Sole
Squid
Sturgeon (wild caught from OR or WA)
Swordfish (US)*
Tuna, Albacore, Bigeye, Yellowfin (caught on longline)*
Tuna, canned light
Tuna, canned white/Albacore*


Better to Avoid:

Caviar (if imported or wild caught)
Chilean Seabass/ Toothfish*
Cod, Atlantic
Crab, King (imported)
Dogfish (US)*
Grenadier/ Pacific Roughy
Lobster, Spiny (imported from Caribbean)
Monkfish
Orange Roughy*
Rockfish (trawl caught)*
Salmon (farmed, including Atlantic)*
Shark*
Shrimp (imported)
Sturgeon (imported)*
Swordfish (imported)*
Tuna, Bluefin*

I'll get back to you on this.
Jim
"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ps.com...
This information was compiled for the Pacific NW, but much of it is
probably relevant to other areas of the country as well.......

Conservation and Health Considerations
Can Influence Seafood Choices

There's an old joke that goes, "I'm on a seafood diet. I see
food, and I eat it." Bad humor notwithstanding, virtually everyone
enjoys at least some of the vast cornucopia of seafoods that can be
purchased at a market, ordered at a restaurant, or harvested from the
deck of a recreational boat in the Pacific Northwest. It is absolutely
legal to consume fish and shellfish served by restaurants or to fish
for any species during the designated season, but there can be
conservation issues as well as personal health considerations
associated with the harvesting and consumption of certain seafood. The
Seattle Aquarium (in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium) has
issued a guideline for Pacific Northwest diners and boaters that lists
species in three categories. The first category identifies seafood that
can be harvested and consumed in abundance.
The second lists other seafoods that are good choices but should be
purchased or harvested with some restraint. The third itemizes a group
that are best avoided because the stocks are currently overfished or
the food is farmed or gathered in a way that could harm other marine
life or the general environment.

Diners may want to consider limiting the consumption of choices
followed by an asterisk (*), due to concerns about mercury and other
contaminants.

Best and Healthiest Choices:

Abalone (farmed)
Bass, Striped (if farmed)
Catfish (farmed in the US)
Caviar, (farmed)
Clams, Oysters, Mussels (farmed)
Cod, Pacific (if caught on hook and line)
Crab, Dungeness or Canadian Snow
Halibut, Pacific
Lobster, Spiny (US)
Prawns, Spot (BC)
Pollock, Alaskan (if caught on hook and line)
Sablefish/ Black Cod (from AK or BC)
Salmon (wild, from sustainable AK stocks)
Sardines
Seabass, White
Shrimp, Pink
Sturgeon (farmed)
Tilapia (farmed)
Tuna, Albacore, Bigeye, or Yellowfin (pole or troll caught)

Second Choices:

Basa/Tra (farmed)
Clams, Oysters (wild caught)*
Cod, Pacific (trawl or long-line caught)
Crab, King (AK), Snow (US), imitation
Dogfish (BC)*
Lingcod
Lobster, Maine
Mahi Mahi, Dolphinfish, Dorado
Prawns, Spot (US)
Rockfish (hook and line caught)*
Sablefish/ Black Cod (from CA, OR, WA)
Salmon (wild caught in CA, OR, WA)
Sanddabs
Scallops, Bay or Sea
Shrimp
Sole
Squid
Sturgeon (wild caught from OR or WA)
Swordfish (US)*
Tuna, Albacore, Bigeye, Yellowfin (caught on longline)*
Tuna, canned light
Tuna, canned white/Albacore*


Better to Avoid:

Caviar (if imported or wild caught)
Chilean Seabass/ Toothfish*
Cod, Atlantic
Crab, King (imported)
Dogfish (US)*
Grenadier/ Pacific Roughy
Lobster, Spiny (imported from Caribbean)
Monkfish
Orange Roughy*
Rockfish (trawl caught)*
Salmon (farmed, including Atlantic)*
Shark*
Shrimp (imported)
Sturgeon (imported)*
Swordfish (imported)*
Tuna, Bluefin*

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ps.com...
This information was compiled for the Pacific NW, but much of it is
probably relevant to other areas of the country as well.......

Conservation and Health Considerations
Can Influence Seafood Choices

There's an old joke that goes, "I'm on a seafood diet. I see
food, and I eat it." Bad humor notwithstanding, virtually everyone
enjoys at least some of the vast cornucopia of seafoods that can be
purchased at a market, ordered at a restaurant, or harvested from the
deck of a recreational boat in the Pacific Northwest. It is absolutely
legal to consume fish and shellfish served by restaurants or to fish
for any species during the designated season, but there can be
conservation issues as well as personal health considerations
associated with the harvesting and consumption of certain seafood. The
Seattle Aquarium (in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium) has
issued a guideline for Pacific Northwest diners and boaters that lists
species in three categories. The first category identifies seafood that
can be harvested and consumed in abundance.
The second lists other seafoods that are good choices but should be
purchased or harvested with some restraint. The third itemizes a group
that are best avoided because the stocks are currently overfished or
the food is farmed or gathered in a way that could harm other marine
life or the general environment.

Diners may want to consider limiting the consumption of choices
followed by an asterisk (*), due to concerns about mercury and other
contaminants.

Best and Healthiest Choices:

Abalone (farmed)
Bass, Striped (if farmed)
Catfish (farmed in the US)
Caviar, (farmed)
Clams, Oysters, Mussels (farmed)
Cod, Pacific (if caught on hook and line)
Crab, Dungeness or Canadian Snow
Halibut, Pacific
Lobster, Spiny (US)
Prawns, Spot (BC)
Pollock, Alaskan (if caught on hook and line)
Sablefish/ Black Cod (from AK or BC)
Salmon (wild, from sustainable AK stocks)
Sardines
Seabass, White
Shrimp, Pink
Sturgeon (farmed)
Tilapia (farmed)
Tuna, Albacore, Bigeye, or Yellowfin (pole or troll caught)

Second Choices:

Basa/Tra (farmed)
Clams, Oysters (wild caught)*
Cod, Pacific (trawl or long-line caught)
Crab, King (AK), Snow (US), imitation
Dogfish (BC)*
Lingcod
Lobster, Maine
Mahi Mahi, Dolphinfish, Dorado
Prawns, Spot (US)
Rockfish (hook and line caught)*
Sablefish/ Black Cod (from CA, OR, WA)
Salmon (wild caught in CA, OR, WA)
Sanddabs
Scallops, Bay or Sea
Shrimp
Sole
Squid
Sturgeon (wild caught from OR or WA)
Swordfish (US)*
Tuna, Albacore, Bigeye, Yellowfin (caught on longline)*
Tuna, canned light
Tuna, canned white/Albacore*


Better to Avoid:

Caviar (if imported or wild caught)
Chilean Seabass/ Toothfish*
Cod, Atlantic
Crab, King (imported)
Dogfish (US)*
Grenadier/ Pacific Roughy
Lobster, Spiny (imported from Caribbean)
Monkfish
Orange Roughy*
Rockfish (trawl caught)*
Salmon (farmed, including Atlantic)*
Shark*
Shrimp (imported)
Sturgeon (imported)*
Swordfish (imported)*
Tuna, Bluefin*


I will only buy farm raised catfish (a decision made long ago for obvious
reasons) but I will not worry about where my shrimp, cod, king crab,
swordfish or canned tuna comes from.

Do you have a link to the folks putting this stuff out?

JimH wrote:


Do you have a link to the folks putting this stuff out?

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

These people have been spouting their thing for a long time but when you
examine some of their theories, things fall apart.
For instance, oysters and clams in the PNW. As you know Chuck, oysters are
farmed all over Puget Sound and Hood Canal. They grow alongside wild oysters
in the exact same waters. They are NOT harvested by dredge as they would
have you believe! Dredging (for seafood) is not allowed anywhere I know of!
Look at trolling for salmon. Many runs in Puget Sound are endangered but a
trolled line can't tell the difference. They say thats okay because the
unmarked fish can be released. In actuality, all are kept because a salmon
has little chance of surviving after being drug all over the ocean.
Also, they say hook and line caught bottom fish is good because the
unwanted can be released unharmed. That's a real hoot! If you ever reeled up
a yelloweye or canary rockfish from 300 foot, you'll see his stomach is
hanging out his mouth and his eyes are bulging out. This is due to having a
swim bladder and rapid decompression. This fish will not survive if set
free. Canary and yelloweye are both on the overfished endangered list.
I could go on but you get the picture.
Gordon



"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ups.com...

JimH wrote:


Do you have a link to the folks putting this stuff out?

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

Hydraulic Dredging for offshore surf (skimmer) clams has been, and still
is common practice on the east coast. UD

I was only looking at the westcoast list. I'll take your word on the east
coast.
G
"UglyDan®©T" wrote in message
...
Hydraulic Dredging for offshore surf (skimmer) clams has been, and still
is common practice on the east coast. UD