Sustainable Seafood

The University of California at Santa Barbara has, arguably, the best and most robust graduate program in environmental science and management in the world.  Called the Bren School, it offers masters and PhD degrees to extremely well-qualified students, and puts them through incredible journeys of learning and understanding.

I’ve hung out there quite a lot over the years, occasionally acting as a mentor to some of the young people working on real-world projects.  Of such projects I’ve ever seen, perhaps my very favorite is Salty Girl Seafood, put in place to promote the role of fish in our diet, and to address the most challenging aspects of environmentalism as it applies to eating fish.

They write:  It’s hard to keep up with all the latest from the experts on what we should or shouldn’t be feeding our families. But there is one food where experts agree: fish.  The jury is in, and the healthy benefits of regularly eating fish are undeniable. Even the USDA is so convinced on the benefits of seafood that their updated guidelines suggest we consume even more fish.

But did you know that most of the fish you eat in restaurants isn’t what the owners claim it to be?  In many cases, it was caught in places nowhere near what we’re told, and in some cases, it’s not even the correct species of fish.

This is due to the fantastically complex supply chain for seafood.  Often the restaurateurs are lied to about the exact origins of what they’re buying.

On top of that, we have the issue of sustainable fishing.  Which species, from which waters, caught with what kind of device are particularly endangered and should be avoided?
Again, from their website: Sustainable, traceable seafood. Made simple.  SALTY GIRL SEAFOOD WAS FOUNDED OUT OF A LOVE FOR THE OCEAN AND THE BELIEF THAT SERVING SUSTAINABLE, TRACEABLE SEAFOOD DISHES SHOULD BE FUN AND EASY.

It’s hard not to fall in love with Salty Girl.