FishWise Seafood

March 13, 2013

Please note that this is an older article. Any products or services pictured or described may have changed or may no longer be available. Thank you for visiting!

Many of our guests have noticed the FishWise labeling system in our Seafood department, but you may have wondered exactly what those green, yellow and red labels are all about. What exactly is FishWise? Put simply, this handy labeling system exists to help our guests make informed decisions about what seafood to buy, based on their own values. FishWise is a non–profit, science–based, sustainable seafood labeling program that incorporates green, yellow and red color designations. Green means the seafood is sustainable, yellow means there are some concerns, and red means unsustainable or over–fished. Also on the FishWise labels you can find information about the origin of the fish and the catch method. All of our seafood specialists are educated on FishWise and are available to answer any questions you may have about the program.

What Do The Colors Mean?

Green—Best Choice

These species are from sources that are well–managed and caught or farmed in environmentally responsible ways.

Yellow—Good Alternative

These species are from fisheries or farms with good qualities, but there are still some associated environmental concerns.

Red—Unsustainable

These species are caught or farmed in ways that can cause harm to the environment.

Why Choose Sustainable Seafood?

When you purchase seafood that is sustainably farmed or harvested, you are supporting the best practices of the industry that are designed to ensure a constant supply of seafood from healthy oceans. Your purchasing power provides the market incentives that can support:

• Species preservation and biodiversity

• The health of aquatic and terrestrial habitats

• Fishing communities and their livelihoods

• Clean and productive oceans

Farmed Vs. Wild–Caught

Some aquaculture (farmed) production systems have very low impacts and result in healthy, sustainable seafood. Similarly, wild fish can be sustainable if they are caught in ways that do not harm the environment through habitat destruction or bycatch (the incidental catch of non–target species) and come from abundant and well–managed stocks. Contaminants are sometimes found in both farmed and wild seafood. Contaminant levels in farmed fish can be controlled via the ingredients in the feed and water quality of the fish farms. Some contaminants accumulate in wild fish as they grow. Often it is fish that are long–lived and high in the food chain that have the highest levels of contaminants. In short, wild seafood is not necessarily better than farmed seafood, or vice versa. It depends entirely on a careful, case–by–case assessment based on the considerations mentioned above. • Angel Nolasco (Meat & Seafood)