- Thu, Oct 6, 2011 4:40 PM EDT
1. Salmon (wild-caught, Alaska)-
Even though I keep up with the news on fish and health, I still get confused when it comes to buying seafood. Between worrying about contaminants like mercury and chemicals such as PCBs that I should avoid, wanting to get enough of the healthy omega-3 fats that are good for my heart and brain, and feeling like I should make an environmentally friendly choice, I have a hard time figuring out which fish is OK to eat given all my concerns. (What's in your fish? Is it toxic?)
So I've stopped guessing at the fish counter. I just stick to these 6 fish and shellfish, identified as the "Best of the Best" when it comes to seafood that's good for you and good for the environment by Seafood Watch, a program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (And I avoid these 6 fish: bluefin tuna, Chilean sea bass (aka Patagonian toothfish), groupers, monkfish, orange roughy and farmed salmon because in many cases they are popular fish that carry high levels of mercury and PCBs and/or their populations are depleted. Find out more here.)
To make this "Super Green" list, fish must: a) have low levels of contaminants-below 216 parts per billion [ppb] mercury and 11 ppb PCBs; b) be high in omega-3s; and c) come from a sustainable fishery. Many other options are on the program's list of "Best Choices" (seafoodwatch.org). The Blue Ocean Institute (blueocean.org) also has sustainability ratings and detailed information.
1. Salmon (wild-caught, Alaska)
(Find a recipe for Blackened Salmon Sandwich and 20+ more easy, healthy salmon recipes here.)
To give you an idea of how well managed Alaska's salmon fishery is, consider this: biologists are posted at river mouths to count how many wild fish return to spawn. If the numbers begin to dwindle, the fishery is closed before it reaches its limits, as was done recently with some Chinook fisheries. This close monitoring, along with strict quotas and careful management of water quality, means Alaska's wild-caught salmon are both healthier (they pack 950 mg of omega-3s and carry few contaminants) and more sustainable than just about any other salmon fishery.
2. Pink Shrimp (wild-caught, Oregon) & Spot Prawns (wild-caught, British Columbia)
(Get the recipe for Emeril Lagasse's Shimp Ceviche and dozens more delicious, healthy shrimp recipes here.)
Most shrimp are plentiful and reproduce quickly. But whether they are sustainably farmed and harvested is the big question. In an effort to reduce the by-catch caused by netting and prevent ocean floors from being scraped clean by dragging, the U.S. has strict regulations on farming and trawling. The best choices are wild-caught MSC-certified pink shrimp (aka cocktail shrimp) from Oregon or their larger sisters, spot prawns, also from the Pacific Northwest, which are caught by traps. Avoid: imported shrimp, farmed or wild.
3. Mussels & Oysters (farmed)
(Get recipes for Steamed Mussels in Tomato Broth and more healthy seafood recipes here.)
Farmed mussels and oysters are good for you (a 3-oz. serving of mussels contains 700 mg of omega-3s and oysters pack 44 percent of the recommended daily values of iron). Better yet, they are actually good for the environment. Both feed off the natural nutrients and algae in the water, which improves water quality. They can also act as natural reefs, attracting and providing food for other fish. One health caveat: Raw shellfish, especially those from warm waters, may contain bacteria that can cause illnesses.
4. Sardines, Pacific (wild-caught)
The tiny, inexpensive sardine is making it onto many lists of superfoods and for good reason. It packs more omega-3s (1,950 mg!) per 3-oz. serving than salmon, tuna or just about any other food; it's also one of the very, very few foods that's naturally high in vitamin D. Many fish in the herring family are commonly called sardines. Quick to reproduce, Pacific sardines have rebounded from both overfishing and a natural collapse in the 1940s.
5. Rainbow Trout (farmed)
Though lake trout are high in contaminants, nearly all the trout you will find in the market is rainbow trout. In the U.S., rainbow trout are farmed primarily in freshwater ponds and "raceways" where they are more protected from contaminants and fed a fishmeal diet that has been fine-tuned to conserve resources.
6. Albacore Tuna (troll-or pole-caught, from the U.S. or British Columbia)
Many tuna are high in mercury but albacore tuna-the kind of white tuna that's commonly canned-gets a Super Green rating as long as (and this is the clincher) it is "troll- or pole-caught" in the U.S. or British Columbia. The reason: smaller (usually less than 20 pounds), younger fish are typically caught this way (as opposed to the larger fish caught on longlines). These fish have much lower mercury and contaminant ratings and those caught in colder northern waters often have higher omega-3 counts. The challenge: you need to do your homework to know how your fish was caught or look for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) blue eco label. Pregnant women and young children should consider chunk light tuna instead; it's lower in mercury.
Updated April 12, 2010.
Editor's clarification (April 16):
The Best Seafood to Eat?
We'd like to respond to some readers' comments and questions on this blog. We highlighted these 6 fish and shellfish because they are identified as among the "Best of the Best" for your health (high in omega-3 fats and low in contaminants) and good for the environment by Seafood Watch, an award-winning program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium (seafoodwatch.org).
We did not intend to suggest that these are the only 6 fish and shellfish you should eat (an editing change to the blog's original headline may have led to some confusion). At EatingWell we advocate eating a variety of sustainable seafood, especially fish that are high in omega-3 fats, which are healthy for your heart and your brain. To answer some of your questions:
Big Fish, Small Fish? The simplest way to decide which seafood is sustainable is to follow the advice that renowned marine biologist Carl Safina gives in his recent EatingWell article "Sea Change" (read the full article here) and simply stick with small fish and shellfish. Or visit our Green Choices Seafood Buyer's Guide here.
Farmed or Wild? Farmed freshwater fish that can be fed a vegetable-based diet, such as tilapia or catfish, are better choices than large carnivorous fish. Better yet are farmed clams, oysters and mussels, which require no feeding and actually filter the waters around them (that's how they eat), helping improve water quality.
Farmed salmon made our list of 6 fish to avoid because most farmed salmon (and all salmon labeled "Atlantic salmon" is farmed) are raised in tightly packed, open-net pens often rife with parasites and diseases that threaten the wild salmon trying to swim by on the way to their ancestral spawning waters, not because their population is depleted. Farmed salmon are fed fishmeal, given antibiotics to combat diseases and have levels of PCBs high enough to rate a health advisory from the Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org). Recently some inland closed-system coho farms have earned a Best Choice status from Seafood Watch. There is hope consumer pressure will encourage more farms to adopt better practices. Read our award-winning special report "The Wild Salmon Debate."
Learn More. In addition to the resources mentioned above, a number of scientific organizations have lists on their websites, offer pocket guides and even mobile apps to help you make seafood choices:
- Carry a Pocket Guide. Carl Safina's Blue Ocean Institute (blueocean.org) and Seafood Watch (seafoodwatch.org) have handy wallet-size guides for seafood and sushi that you can download or order.
- Ask the Fish Phone! Text 30644 with the word "fish" followed by a space and the seafood you are considering. In about 10 seconds you will get up-to-date information from the Blue Ocean Institute, which has facts and sustainability ratings for more than 90 species of seafood.
- Look for the MSC blue eco label. The independent, nonprofit Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certifies wild fisheries that are well managed and sustainable. At present it does not look at farmed fish.
By Michelle Edelbaum
Michelle is the associate editor of interactive for EatingWell Media Group. In between editing and writing, she enjoys sampling the tasty results of the easy, healthy recipes that the EatingWell Test Kitchen cooks are working on.
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