Make Time for the Tuna

Hello Tuna -- Courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Definitely a challenge to navigate the complexities of buying and eating seafood that makes you part of the solution versus part of the problem. Tuna is a great example. Bluefin, skipjack, yellowfin...what is what, what is best, what is bad? Bad as in overfished, threatened, and/or caught in a way that lots of other marine life die in the process...Head spinners all of it.

So where's the easy out from Eco Ocean? Sorry, there isn't one. You have to make time for the tuna.

Rule of thumb could be to avoid bluefin, if you see the rare and high-end fish out there, skipjack is fine but we have to keep our collective eyes on that tuna species. General approach should be to shop at places that know where and how the fish is caught, ask questions, consult fish lists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and others, and as author Paul Greenberg says in the Philadelphia Inquirer "'It is a good idea, from a moral standpoint, to choose the right fish,' he says. But it can't stop there. Find out who the suppliers are, he suggests, 'and then start writing letters.'"

Read Sandy Bauers' full Philadelphia Inquirer story here -- she provides a helpful and quick tuna treatise:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/weekly/20100809_GreenSpace__What_you_can_do_to_help_the_endangered_tuna.html