Eco-friendly Seafood at Princeton
Why the big fuss?
Misconception: For centuries, people have assumed that the vast size
of the oceans and reproductive capacity of fish would protect fish
and other marine creatures from overharvesting and extinction. In
the last few decades, we’ve been shown time and time again how naïve
we have been: 22% of commercial fisheries are over-exploited or
depleted and another 44% are fully exploited, meaning that fishing
communities and the general public are currently paying dearly for
previous poor management in the form of lost jobs and significantly
reduced catches.
Commercial depletion: Even the cod of the Eastern US and Canada,
which used to be abundant to the point that boatloads of Europeans
sailed across the Atlantic to find the oceans so full that they could
dip buckets in and pull them out full of fish, are now commercially
extinct. Sometimes these effects are very hard to reverse: despite a
great reduction of cod fishing effort, these once-super-abundant fish
are still dangerously rare. With all their costly equipment,
fishermen can’t catch depleted stocks, because they simply aren’t
there.
Ecosystem destruction: The depletion of fisheries has effects beyond
just reduced catch and lost profits. Fishing gear can destroy
habitat, accidental catch of non-targeted species threatens
endangered species, and many commercial species play crucial roles in
marine ecosystems. Overall, poorly managed fisheries drastically
alter whole ecosystems, affecting people in numerous ways including
through other fisheries.
Social implications: Fishery conservation efforts are economically
and socially beneficial. A well-managed, sustainable fishery that
avoids over-fishing, habitat destruction, and accidental catch can
provide stable jobs for the long term, while a poorly managed,
unsustainable fishery is only temporarily expanded until its drastic
collapse. The depleted resource often provides many jobs and much
opportunity during the boom, but the bust often means economic
devastation for entire regions: much of Atlantic Canada has been in
economic depression ever since the cod fishery became depleted.
Take-home message: Marine creatures are finite resources, and without
careful management these resources will collapse with severe
ecological, social, and economic ramifications. Despite a much
better understanding of appropriate management, scientists agree that
most fisheries are not managed sustainably, and are at risk of the
same cycle of boom and bust seen with cod. Consumers can alter this
situation by choosing eco-friendly seafood, thereby providing an
incentive for appropriate management of fisheries.
Large-scale consumers, such as Princeton University, have a
special opportunity to significantly impact fisheries policies
through their purchasing decisions. Dining Services would like to
take a stand on this issue, and serve only eco-friendly seafood.
However, in order to do so, they need your support.
The Details
The following is a quick summary of the seafood most frequently
offered by Princeton University Dining Services. Using information
provided by various environmental organizations, it ranks these
products on a scale of red/avoid, yellow/caution, or
green/recommended and explains these rankings.
In general, the main reasons why any fish might be on yellow or red
lists are:
- overfished, depleted populations
- habitat destruction by fishing gear, especially bottom trawling
- accidental catch of other species or juveniles (“bycatch”)
- environmentally costly farming practices such as raising
carnivorous fish
For the Audubon cards we're handing out,
- green = "abundant, relatively well-managed species"
- yellow = "significant concerns about a species' status, fishing
methods, and/or management"
- red = "a lot of problems - such as severe depletion, overfishing
and poor management"
The specifics for common Princeton Dining fish are:
Shrimp
Imported shrimp are on the red list because they have the worst
bycatch of any fishery (3-15 pounds of bycatch per pound of shrimp!),
including endangered sea turtle bycatch, and farm-raised shrimp from
overseas have problems with habitat destruction. US farmed and wild
shrimp are on the yellow list because they have less negative impact
due to regulations like sea turtle escape devices in nets.
California trap-caught and Atlantic northern pink shrimp are on the
green list because they have the lowest bycatch. Princeton generally
serves yellow- or red-list shrimp.
Catfish
Catfish are ideal for aquaculture because they're farmed in closed
freshwater ponds on a mostly herbivorous diet (rather than
environmentally costly fishmeal). This environmentally sustainable
farming approach earns them their green listing.
Salmon
While Catfish and Tilapia provide the perfect example of good
aquaculture, Salmon is the perfect example of bad aquaculture.
Atlantic framed salmon are raised on an environmentally costly diet
of fish meal (2.8 pounds of other fish for 1 pound of salmon means
this fishery still exacts a considerable toll on marine ecosystems)
in pens in the ocean, where they cause increased pollution, increased
disease spread, and genetic deterioration due to escaped fish
interbreeding in wild populations, which are so depleted that they
are commercially extinct. Therefore, Atlantic salmon are on the red
list. On the other hand, Pacific salmon are wild-caught from
hatchery-supported stocks; the main threats to these populations are
not fishery management but habitat degradation from logging,
agriculture, and dams. Oregon and Washington salmon have a yellow or
red listing and California salmon have a green or red listing
depending on the source, while Alaskan salmon are invariable on green
lists. (Note to the health-conscious: wild-caught salmon are less
fatty than farmed salmon.)
Scallops
The environmental damage associated with dredging wild-caught
scallops and uncertainty about the environmental impact of some
farmed-raised scallops have resulted in their placement on red and
yellow lists, depending on the source. However, Atlantic net-farmed
scallops are on the green list because raising scallops that
suspension feed plankton in the ocean and harvesting them with nondestructive methods has little environmental impact. Princeton
generally serves yellow-list scallops.
Tilapia
Like catfish, Tilapia are raised on farms inland on an herbivorous
diet, a very environmentally friendly approach that results in their
green listing.
Cod
Atlantic cod is the classic example of overfishing; severely depleted
populations and habitat damage due to bottom trawling give this fish
its red listing. Pacific cod are on the yellow or green list,
depending on the source; they are harvested at a more sustainable
level but are still associated with habitat damage. Princeton serves
red-list cod.
Tuna
Due to extreme overfishing, bluefin tuna is on the red list.
Yellowfin, bigeye, albacore, and especially skipjack tuna have
healthier populations. Though now dolphin-safe, tuna caught with
purse seine nets incur heavy fish bycatch, and tuna caught with
longlines have endangered sea turtle bycatch. Therefore, albacore,
yellowfin, skipjack, and bigeye tuna caught by longlines or purseseine nets are on the yellow list, while those caught by trolls or
pole, which have much less bycatch, are on the green list. Sushi
tuna may be bluefin or ahi, which applies to both bigeye and
yellowfin. Canned tuna can be albacore ("white tuna"), yellowfin or
skipjack ("chunk lite"). Princeton serves yellow-list tuna.
Sources for the above and more information on these or other species
are available from:
Monterey Bay Aquarium: http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp
Audubon: http://www.audubon.org/campaign/lo/seafood/
Environmental Defense:
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/tool_pop.cfm?tool=seafood
National Resources Defense Council:
http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/fish/gwhichfi.asp
Seafood Choices Alliance:
http://www.seafoodchoices.com/seasense/index.shtml
Feel free to contact Marissa (mbaskett@princeton.edu) with any
questions.