We found this great article by Jamie Oliver’s fish guru Mathew Couchman on the differences between sustainable and ethical seafood.
We didn’t even know there was a difference!
We found out that these labelling terms tend to describe the fishing practices and methods used in catching the seafood. For example, a fish that is caught ethically means that it has caused little or no impact to other stocks or the environment. This is different from a fish that is caught from a stock that has been certified as sustainable.
Couchman writes:
“The stark reality is that sustainable and ethical can have absolutely no relationship whatsoever! Fishing method has no true representation as to whether the fish stock biomass is sustainable; it has a complete representation of its impact on the environment and the effect on any untargeted or undersized caught species (by catch). Line-caught fish from an over-exploited stock are ethical but certainly not sustainable, whereas beam trawled fish from a certified stock are definitely sustainable but certainly not ethical.”
He recommends that the only way to understand the environmental impact of a fishing method is to research and understand which species are caught by which method.
That is, each fish species can be allocated one of three specific target areas; Benthic (bottom dwellers), Demersal (Living near the bottom), Pelagic (Midwater).
“Without understanding this, one will never be able to make a judgment about the environmental impact of certified or non-certified sustainable species – Science doesn’t get more complex than fisheries science.” He says.
So here are some helpful sources to help you get started on choosing more sustainable and ethical seafood!
- GoodFishBadFish’s Guide to Certifications have put together the ultimate list of all the eco-labels and certification schemes by organisations like Greenpeace and Australia Conservation Foundation.
- Australian Marine Conservation Society is also on this list but should be especially highlighted because of it publishes Australia’s only comprehensive national seafood species guide. They use a traffic-light system to recommend that consumers ‘SAY NO’, ‘THINK TWICE’ or support ‘BETTER CHOICE’ seafood species.
And since we’re on the topic of sustainable seafood, here is the trailer for the amazing documentary called End Of The Line
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