Seafood and our craving for sushi

There’s a lot of talk about sustainable seafood these days, especially with global sushi consumption and the soon to be extinct bluefin tuna. I’ve written about Sea Rocket Bistro in San Diego, and have been meaning to try Tataki, the first self-claimed “sustainable sushi restaurant”, based in San Francisco. Both restaurants serve local food and adhere to Monterey Aquarium’s Seafood Watch and the recent, printable sushi guide. These take into account which fish are endangered, how they are caught, along with their mercury content.

But when I google seafood or sushi, I mostly come up with articles about its health benefits. Sure, fish is a great source of protein and light in calories, but its mercury content and environmental cost needs to be taken into account.

As far as my fish intake, I’ve limited my consumption to wild salmon if available and ahi tuna as a once or twice-a-month occasion. But lately I am questioning just how much of either I should even allow myself to eat.

I’m sure I won’t want to eat either after I watch End of the Line, premiering near me July 10th. It’s supposed to be the first film on the seafood industry, showing how overfishing is devastating our oceans. Based on the book by Charles Clover, it covers what’s happening in the heavily fished areas of the world, and calls for increased marine monitoring of our oceans.

What’s interesting to me is that neither Seafood Watch or End of the Line make any mention of a complete boycott of seafood consumption. I agree that enforcing stricter fishing laws is what needs to happen, but what about promoting a boycott from eating seafood altogether? What if we all took a break from eating spicy tuna rolls and freshwater eel for a few years?

I think a shift towards adopting a plant-based diet is essential if we’re going to save our oceans. Just reducing our fish intake or eating from the more abundant species is a good way to make the transition.