I subscribe to Nutrition Action Healthletter . A recent edition carried an article on ethical (and healthy) fish consumption. It included handy lists of fish that can safely be eaten, fish that are good alternatives in a pinch, and fish which you should avoid eating–either because of health concerns, or because they are endangered.
I just scanned, OCRed and edited the lists to put in my BlackBerry, so I thought I’d post them here in case you want to copy them to your own phone’s notepad.
Best choices
Arctic char (farmed)
Barramundi (U.S. farmed)
Catfish (U.S. farmed)
Clams (farmed)
Cod - Pacific (Alaska longline)
Crab - stone or Dungeness
Halibut - Pacific
Atlantic Herring/Sardines
Lobster - spiny (U.S.)
Mussels (farmed)
Oysters (farmed)
Pollock (Alaska wild)
Salmon (Alaska wild)
Scallops - bay (farmed)
Striped bass (wild* or farmed)
Sturgeon (farmed) or its caviar
Tilapia (U.S. farmed)
Trout - rainbow (farmed)
Tuna - albacore (U.S. or British Columbia, troll or pole)
Tuna - skipjack (troll or pole)
Good alternatives
Basa (farmed)
Clams (wild)
Cod - Pacific (trawled)
Crab - blue*
Crab - king (U.S.)
Crab - snow
Flounder (Pacific)
Lobster - American (Maine)
Mahi mahi (U.S.)
Oysters (wild)*
Scallops - sea (Northeast U.S. and Canada)
Shrimp (U.S. farmed or wild)
Sole (Pacific)
Squid
Surimi (imitation crab)
Swai (farmed)
Swordfish (U.S. longline)*
Tilapia (Central America farmed)
Tuna - bigeye (troll or pole)
Tuna - yellowfin (troll or pole)
Tuna - canned white (albacore)* or canned light
Fish to avoid
Chilean seabass*
Cod - Atlantic*
Crab - king (imported)*
Flounder (Atlantic)
Grouper*
Halibut - Atlantic
Lobster - spiny (Caribbean imported)
Mahi mahi (imported)
Monkfish
Orange roughy*
Rockfish (Pacific)
Salmon (farmed, including Atlantic)*
Scallops - sea (mid-Atlantic)
Shark*
Shrimp (imported farmed or wild)
Snapper - red*
Sole (Atlantic)
Sturgeon (imported wild)* or its caviar*
Swordfish (imported)*
Tilapia (China or Taiwan farmed)
Tuna - albacore (Iongline)*
Tuna - bigeye (Iongline)*
Tuna - yellowfin (longline)*
Tuna - bluefin*
* indicates mercury contamination is a concern, and you should limit consumption for health reasons.
And if you’re wondering why someone who doesn’t eat meat would eat fish, evidence is that humans evolved on a diet heavy in fish , which is why Omega-3 seems to be so good for mental health and skin problems.
Or as the cliché puts it: meat is murder, fish is justifiable homicide.