Things to consider the next time you hit the seafood aisle
Seventy-one percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by the ocean. It’s no surprise, then, that much of the food humans consume comes from the sea. According to Seafood Watch — a seafood sustainability program based out of the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California — the fishing industry takes over half a billion pounds of seafood out of the ocean every day! The problem with this is the majority of seafood is caught in unsustainable ways.
Seafood is a tricky consumer product because there is so little transparency in the industry. The USDA does, however, mandate that seafood products state where they were caught and whether they were farmed or caught in the wild. But, more than 50 percent of seafood in the U.S. skirts this rule because it’s been processed — cooked, smoked, canned, pickled — and therefore is exempt from labeling requirements.
Food and Water Watch — an environmental grassroots organization — explains that this is a serious issue because processed seafood is more subject to contamination than non-processed seafood. Fish contamination by bacteria is a major problem on fish farms. Large, industrial fish farms are often dirty and harbor bacteria, viruses and parasites. Therefore, these farms employ antibiotics and chemicals, which can be hazardous to human health; half of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is farmed. Food and Water Watch states that, “less than 2 percent of seafood imports to the U.S. are inspected for contamination.” Food and Water Watch even created its own list of the “Dirty Dozen” — fish that are often contaminated by bacteria and caught harmfully.
Large, industrial fish farms are often dirty and harbor bacteria, viruses and parasites.
GMOs and seafood
Another concern with farmed fish is that they are often fed genetically engineered corn and soy. This GMO corn and soy is engineered to be herbicide tolerant or to produce its own insecticide. Because the vast majority of corn and soy grown in the U.S. is engineered to be tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate, use of this herbicide has seen a 1600 percent increase in its usage since the 1990’s. The World Health Organization has determined that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen. It has also increased weed resistance tremendously, creating “superweeds” that can no longer be controlled with glyphosate.
Genetically engineered salmon have been approved for commercial sale, and 35 other species of fish are in the works to becoming genetically engineered as well. GMO fish — found on fish farms — are especially dangerous for wild fish populations. This is particularly true for wild Atlantic salmon, which is an endangered species. If GMO fish reproduce with wild fish, the wild fish gene pool can greatly weaken. Luckily, Friends of the Earth’s GMO salmon campaign got nearly 80 retailers to refuse to sell GMO salmon. So, even though GMO salmon has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it stands little chance on the market.
As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to buy wild fish. However, there is an exception to this rule. Bivalve shellfish — clams, oysters, mussels, scallops — can be bought from farms. This is because they are filter feeders, so they clean the water they live in, contributing positively to their environment.
Overexploitation of resources
Another major problem with seafood is overexploitation of resources. According to Seafood Watch, “90 percent of the world’s fisheries are either fully exploited, overexploited or have collapsed.” Larger-sized fish are the most threatened by overfishing because they often have long lifespans and don’t reproduce as frequently as other fish species. Additionally, when the big fish — salmon, tuna, swordfish — are overfished, we start to eat their prey more, because they are more abundant in the sea. In turn, their prey appear to undergo a population boom since fishermen are then catching their predators. And when fishermen notice this “population boom” in the prey, they begin to overfish those species; it’s a vicious cycle.
The methods the fishing industry uses to catch seafood also significantly contribute to the overexploitation of marine resources. Trawling — where fishing nets tear across the seafloor — ruins underwater ecosystems that play key roles in the lives of many different marine species. Seafood Watch notes that trawling the ocean is “the equivalent of clear-cutting a forest.” In Alaska, between the years 1997 and 1999, trawling destroyed more than one million pounds of coral and sponges per year. A horrendous side effect of trawling and other methods of fishing is bycatch — where sea creatures not targeted by the fishermen, like dolphins or turtles, are accidentally harmed or killed. Up to 200,000 loggerhead sea turtles and 50,000 leatherback sea turtles are caught annually as bycatch due to industrial fishing techniques. Longlining is another detrimental fishing method where long fishing lines, covered in baited hooks, are thrown into the sea and inadvertently destroy habitats and result in bycatch.
Up to 200,000 loggerhead sea turtles and 50,000 leatherback sea turtles are caught annually as bycatch due to industrial fishing techniques.
Destruction of the Bering Sea
The Bering Sea, between Alaska and Russia, contributes to over half of the seafood consumed in the U.S. yet continues to be harmed by industrial fishing techniques. It is also the location of two of the world’s largest undersea canyons. Unfortunately, the canyons are in grave danger because fishing vessels that trawl and use longlining techniques are destroying the canyons’ corals and sponges, which play key roles in the Bering Sea’s ecosystem. If the fishing industry continues to mistreat the canyons, the Bering Sea will no longer be able to produce over half of the nation’s seafood. Several major supermarkets have been asking the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to protect the Bering Sea’s canyons, including: Ahold, Costco, Giant Eagle, Hy-Vee, Roundy’s, Safeway, Southeastern Grocers, SUPERVALU,Trader Joe’s, Wegmans and Whole Foods Market.
Humans rights abuses related to seafood
Fishing is not only dangerous to the environment — it can also be a source of human rights abuses. Close to 21 million people across the globe are stuck in forced labor — the seafood industry is one of the primary causes of this statistic. People who work on fishing vessels outside of the U.S. often live in deplorable conditions at sea. Big fishing boats often travel far out to sea for their catch, and rather than motor back to port, send their fish back on smaller boats; this means many of the people working on the large boats get trapped at sea for years at a time. The Associated Press won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their articles on human slavery and seafood, which caused more than 2,000 slaves in Southeast Asia to be freed. According to Greenpeace, “the U.S. State Department has reported slavery on fishing vessels in more than 50 countries.” Since over 70 percent of U.S. seafood is imported, this means that it’s possible that your fish fingers are a direct result of slavery. However, it’s not your fault; it is not easy to tell whether or not your seafood originated from human slavery. One way to know whether or not your seafood is a byproduct of slavery is to follow Greenpeace’s canned tuna fish rankings. These rankings detail tuna companies’ human rights abuses and sustainability. In the meantime, several senators are urging President Obama to increase traceability for human rights in the seafood industry. You too, can make a difference by creating a petition on Change.org.
Close to 21 million people across the globe are stuck in forced labor — the seafood industry is one of the primary causes of this statistic.
What you can do
Clearly, the seafood industry harbors many unsustainable problems. Next time you go to the supermarket, ask the person behind the seafood counter: “Is this fish sustainably-caught? Was it farm-raised?” When you go out to eat, ask the same questions. And just because a restaurant has an ocean view does not mean the seafood is local. Ask before you order, “Is this fish local? If not, where’s it from? And was it caught sustainably?” When grocers and chefs see that their customers care about seafood sustainability, they’re more likely to invest in sustainable products.
Just because a restaurant has an ocean view does not mean the seafood is local.
Additionally, there are several great resources out there to help you make sustainable seafood purchases. Besides the Dirty Dozen and Greenpeace’s canned tuna rankings — which were mentioned earlier — there are several other helpful resources. Download “The Seafood Watch” app for your smartphone, in order to receive sustainable fish and sushi recommendations. To receive information about the best local seafood items in your state, print one of Seafood Watch’s consumer guides targeted for your state. Shop at the Whole Foods seafood counters where many products are labeled with green (best choice) or yellow (second best choice) Seafood Watch stickers. Or, to find specific seafood products that are sustainable, use the Marine Stewardship Council’s product finder. And if you want to be more active you can sign this petition which will encourage stores that have not yet banned GMO salmon, to do so!