Photo credit: OpenCage

Thankfully I never acquired a taste for sushi, it wasn’t common in the Midwest when I was growing up. Because if I actually enjoyed eating it, that would make it much harder to give up now. I’m just trying to be honest that when I say I gave up eating sushi long ago, it really means I never started eating it. And now I refuse to eat it because sushi meals are wreaking havoc on world fish populations across the globe.

For those of you out there that still insist on eating sushi or just can’t give it up, there are decisions you can make when buying raw seafood that can protect your health and the oceans. The best thing to do is carry the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch card with you where ever you go. Just click here to visit their website and download the wallet size card that is most appropriate for your eating habits. The cards list best choices, good alternatives and fish/sushi that you should avoid at all costs. There’s even cards specific to your geographic area for normal fish meals and the sushi card can be downloaded separately, plus a free app for your iPhone!

Sixteen items are listed on the avoid list of the sushi card. Some examples include Hon Maguro/Bluefin tuna, Maguro/Tuna: Bigeye and Yellowfin, Sake/Salmon (farmed including Atlantic), Shiro Maguro/Albacore Tuna (imported) and Toro/Tuna: Bigeye, Bluefin, Yellowfin. These items are also marked with a little red asterisk to indicate high levels of mercury or other contaminants. To be listed in the “avoid” section of the card it means that “these items are caught or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.”

The poor bluefin tuna is on it’s way out unless drastic measures are taken to protect the species from overfishing. But since so much money is at stake in the bluefin tuna fishing industry, greed may ultimately win that battle. It’s so sad what we are doing to our oceans. So for those of you about to eat sushi, please take time to learn what’s on the red list and help save the oceans one meal at a time.