Sustainable Seafood

Do you recall how last year, Hawaii became the first state to ban shark finning? Well, California followed suit this past weekend. On Saturday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that bans the possession, sale, and distribution of imported shark fins, calling the practice "cruel" and the new legislation "in the interest of future generations." Fins already in the state may be sold and possessed until July 1, 2013.

Shark fins are used to make shark fin soup, an expensive Chinese delicacy that can start at a whopping $40 per bowl. Although a number of public figures — Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson, and Yao Ming, to name a few — have spoken out against the practice, others believe the ban to be an assault on Chinese culture and cuisine.

While Oregon and Washington have also implemented similar laws, California is the largest and most influential state to pass the ban thus far. With such a critical state on board with the ban, do you expect the rest of the country to follow?

From functionally extinct oysters to shark fin cruelty, recent environmental news has suggested a doom-and-gloom future for global aquaculture. A new report, from The WorldFish Center and Conservation International, takes the notion of the world's bleak seafood system a step further, with a chart that illustrates how the mercy of the world's fish supply lies almost entirely in the hands of one country: China.

China accounted for 61.5 percent of global aquaculture in 2008 and is now the single largest exporter of seafood to the United States, thanks to America's taste for shrimp and catfish. But given the country's rash of recent food safety scandals, and the fact that the FDA has only inspected 1.5 percent of processing facilities in China, this statistic has perilous implications for the future of seafood.

Overfished seafood and overfishing have both been hot topics as of late, but there needs to be a greater conversation not only about how fish are disappearing, but also who the world's seafood suppliers have turned to. Are you concerned about the provenance of your seafood for health and safety reasons?

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I've had more thoughts in the past week about the sustainablity of seafood than I have about the Super Bowl. Chalk it up to lots of conflicting information. The one question in my head is this: should we be eating more fish in our diets or less?

According to Parents, the USDA's new dietary guidelines mean we should be increasing our seafood intake in order to reduce consumption of other animal products. According to USDA secretary Tom Vilsack, upping fish in our diets means lowered risk of heart health, cardiovascular disease, and stroke.

Not so fast, cautions environmental economist: according to an article in the Guardian this week, what we (people in the UK, at least) should be doing is eating less fish. "Responsible customers can reduce the amount of fish they eat — by far the safest option when it comes to . . . the sustainability of stocks." Where do you stand: should we be eating more fish, or less of it?

If you care about the future of sea life, maybe you shouldn't be eating oysters. A recent study shows over 85 percent of wild oyster reefs have disappeared, thanks to overharvesting and disease. The study, conducted by The Nature Conservancy and the University of California and published in BioScience, examined reefs across 44 ecoregions and 144 bays, excluding Japan, China, South Africa, and the Koreas.

The verdict? Oysters, overall, are in "poor" condition. "They are functionally extinct in that they lack any significant ecosystem role and remain at less than 1 percent of prior abundances in many bays and ecoregions, particularly in North America, Australia, and Europe," the study stated.

Roughly 75 percent of the remaining wild oysters in the world can be found within five North American locations, so that's good news, but maybe that means steering clear of anything that's not a farmed oyster, lest the bivalves vanish completely. Yet another reason to pay attention to sustainable seafood guidelines.

We're not the only ones vowing to take a more sustainable approach to eating in 2011: so is the entire city of London. The city, largely in preparation for its role as host city for the 2012 Olympics, hopes to become the very first to source all of its fish sustainably.

The effort's helmed by The Sustainable Fish City campaign, which is made up of food and conservation groups. The goal? Not only to use only sustainable seafood during the Olympic and Paralympic games, but also to adopt the same standards citywide, applying them across governmental organizations, including the transportation, fire, and police forces. Outside organizations have quickly followed, among them five top London universities, the National Trust, and the D&D group of London restaurants.

Not everyone thinks there's scientific basis for sustainable seafood guidelines, but in my opinion, this is a brave step forward. Could you see a US city following suit?

If you enjoy eating seafood, get excited. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has recently released an updated seafood watch guide. Their popular seafood guide lists three types of fish: those that you should avoid, those that are a good alternative, and a best choice for sustainable seafood. Our friends at Slashfood have all the details on the update. To find out which fish are now safe to eat, head over to Slashfood for the whole story.

• PETA has some words to say about Lady Gaga's raw meat dress. — TrèsSugar
• Armenians are to thank for the world's largest chocolate bar at 9,702 pounds. — Eater
• Whole Foods will be the first nationwide grocer to launch a seafood ratings program. — Eatocracy
• David Chang: people eat better, but creativity is dying. — Fork in the Road
• Hubert Keller has shuttered Fleur de Lys in Las Vegas. — Inside Scoop
• Learn how to prepare periwinkles. — Serious Eats
• Michael Symon will star in Food Feuds, Food Network's knockoff of Food Wars. — Grub Street NY
• Corn syrup is lobbying to change its name to corn sugar. — Consumerist