Where Did All The Fish Go?

by Eileen Weber

Summer always brings back wistful memories of my childhood and they mainly center around food. I remember fresh cherry tomatoes bursting with sun-warmed flavor. Fresh sugar snap peas. Blueberries. Nectarines. Zucchinis and their little flowers.

But the best of all was the fresh fish we’d often have for dinner. My dad, while hardly a chef, did have the right idea when it came to preparing fish: a little lemon, a little butter or olive oil, some salt and pepper and you’re done. On your plate, the fish should speak for himself.

Simple ingredients and a quick flip on the grill was all that was necessary for a great meal. But these days, that meal is threatened. Or more specifically, that meal is on the endangered list.

It has been increasingly pointed out that we are depleting our fish source. Where did all the fish go? Well, we ate them. Now what?

Mark Bittman, Food Columnist for The New York Times, wrote that while restaurants and retailers are responsible for the fish they sell, we as consumers are also responsible for what we eat.

“I’m all for seafood restaurants and fishmongers carrying only sustainable fish…,” said Bittman in his June 9th article, “but I think it’s also up to consumers to know enough to refuse to buy certain fish because they’re threatened (or, for that matter, because they’re farmed in unsustainable ways).”

But figuring out what is and isn’t sustainable is not necessarily all that easy. Greenpeace provides a nice long list if you’re interested. But when was the last time you found yourself sorting through the endangered species list before heading off to the market?

Isn’t it your market’s job to be aware of what’s endangered or not? Greenpeace certainly agrees. On June 30th, the organization released their third sustainable seafood scorecard profiling supermarkets across the country. Oddly enough, Trader Joe’s, known for its organic and all-natural products, was ranked 17 out of 20, which is the lowest rank for a national chain.

Raising the bar a bit further, activists dressed in Hawaiian shirts or as Orange Roughy, an endangered fish and a favored selection in Trader Joe’s frozen food aisle, campaigned in front of the one of the San Francisco stores. They handed out information about sustainable fishing practices.

“As part of its global campaign to ensure the long-term sustainability of fisheries and marine ecosystems,” said Daniel Kessler, Press Officer for Greenpeace, in a recent e-mail, “Greenpeace is urging supermarkets to remove the most at-risk species from their shelves. Supermarkets can meet consumer demand for sustainable products by refusing to sell seafood from fisheries that: exploit endangered, vulnerable and/or protected species, or species with poor stock status; cause habitat destruction and/or lead to ecosystem alterations; cause negative impacts on other, non-target species; are unregulated, unreported, illegal or managed poorly, and cause negative impacts on local, fishing dependent communities.”

But Greenpeace is not alone in growing awareness about the impact of overfishing weak supplies of seafood. The U.K.’s recent release of the film End of the Line does just that. With scattered viewings across the country, the film is being hailed at the “Inconvenient Truth” of the fishing industry.

The main point of the film is that we’re running out of fish to eat. Unlike the damage we’ve done with climate change, reversing the effects of overfishing would be relatively simple: Stop eating the fish that needs to be replenished. When left alone, fish are happy to procreate.

Henry Lovejoy, President and Co-Founder of Eco-Fish with his wife Lisa, said it’s the educated consumer that makes a difference. The seafood industry is being forced to change because of consumer demand. More people who shop at places like Whole Foods Market or even Wal-Mart, which has put a concerted effort in to the food it sells, want to see the same choices offered on restaurant menus.

“We provide restaurants and consumers with our sustainable seafood products,” he said. “But the world needs a certified body [like the Marine Stewardship Council] so people can know what to buy that’s sustainable.”

Lovejoy, whose company is not only a food service for restaurants but sells their Henry & Lisa’s Natural Seafood brand in stores and online, said sustainable seafood was nothing more than a concept 10 years ago. Since he and his wife started their company in 1999, he says he has seen a tremendous change in the industry.

“There’s been a huge shift,” he said. “Seafood is one of the most complex categories. When you go to the store to buy chicken, you buy just one species of chicken. When you buy beef, there’s just one species of cow. We have thousands of species of fish.”

That’s what makes overfishing a scary thought. Thousands of species of fish—and we’ve eaten some to alarmingly low levels. It’s certainly food for thought. So the next time you want fish for dinner, make sure you’re not eating the last one on Earth.

Photo courtesy of Eco-Fish.