The other day at work I was delighted to see Sablefish back on the lunch menu as it happens to my favourite fish.  I had two guests order it for lunch that day and while I was admiring it on the hot line before it made its way to the table I had to admit how much I missed it!

So far my year without seafood has gone along pain free without any real cravings or desires for anything until of course the other day.  So I felt inspired to write about this wonderful fish and its even more wonderful fishery!

Sablefish is a deep water, Northern Pacific black-skinned fish caught far off the coast of British Columbia.  Sablefish, otherwise known as Black Cod or Butterfish, is a deliciously tender, rich, buttery white fish with a flesh that gleams pearly white making it an ideal restaurant fish for its beauty and texture.

However the best part about Sablefish is the way in which it is managed and caught.  The Canadian Sablefish Fishery is one of the World’s most successful, sustainable fisheries; a leader in sustainable fishery practices currently being modeled after World wide.

In the past Sablefish was only a bycatch product of groundfish fisheries and considered a nuisance.  However years later in an attempt to make Sablefish a respectable fishery, this species was taken to the markets in Japan to develop an interest in the fish while the fishery itself experimented in ways to improve the catching process to ensure environmental protection and continued productive harvesting strategies.

The Canadian Sablefish Association has made it their mission to stay on top of their industry by playing an active role in the research and management of the species to ensure its well being and continued success.  Their efforts lead to the creation of trapping, a sustainable fishing method that eliminates virtually all bycatch.  All Sablefish is then bled, cleaned and frozen onboard resulting in a superior product.

Sablefish is available all year round and is one of the best sustainable seafood products on the market today.  So choose Sablefish on your next dining adventure and show your support for sustainable fisheries.

The program that caught my attention 6 years ago that has inspired me to do my part in communicating for Ocean awareness is Ocean Wise founded by the Vancouver Aquarium.  This conservation program was created to “educate and empower consumers about the issues surrounding sustainable seafood”.  According to Ocean Wise, “sustainable seafood can be defined as species that are caught or farmed in a way that ensures the long-term health and stability of that species, as well as the greater marine ecosystem”.

Ocean Wise is a very simple classification program, a species is either sustainable or unsustainable.  Species are recommended if they are:

1. Abundant and resilient to fishing pressures
2. Well managed with a comprehensive management plan based on current research
3. Harvested in a method that ensures limited by-catch on non-target and endangered species
4. Harvested in ways that limit damage to marine or aquatic habitats and negative interactions with other species.

(Ocean Wise)

The Ocean Wise department at Vancouver Aquarium uses internal and external resources to assess the well being of all species, keeping up with all the latest scientific literature released so to relay this information to all participating partners.  Their seafood database is always changing and adapting to ensure appropriate classifications.

Seeing as many of us enjoy our seafood in restaurants, a great place to start protecting ocean habitats and stressed species would be in the kitchens of our favourite local chefs. Ocean wise set out to work directly with interested restaurants and markets to keep them well informed with the latest scientific research thus making ocean friendly alternatives an easy choice for their menus.

Robert Clark Executive Chef of C Restaurant, a man I have had the honour to work with, was one of the first on board with this program and continues to be a spokesperson and representative for Ocean Wise restaurants in the city of Vancouver.  Although Ocean Wise does all of the research, restaurants are required to follow  strict guidelines in order to be granted with the trademarked Ocean Wise logo.  This includes a mandatory training meeting with employees to ensure that staff are well informed about the Ocean Wise program and the sustainable seafood available on their menus to further educate the public they serve each night.  I was one of those people at Raincity Grill, and it was a eye opening lesson, one that continues to inspire me to educate those around me about seafood sustainability.

Today over 100 restaurants in British Columbia are Ocean Wise recommended and the success of the program has  inspired other restaurants across the country to become involved.  However there is much work to be done across the central provinces and the east coast of Canada.

If you own a restaurant and would like more information about the Ocean Wise program please visit www.vanaqua.org or as a consumer you can visit the Vancouver Aquarium’s  website to view their participating restaurants so that you can make wiser dining decisions for your family!

“Sustainable seafood options do exist. And it’s up to all of us to ensure our fisheries are managed in a sustainable fashion so we can maintain the bounty of British Columbia’s seafood industry.”

David Suzuki

In keeping with their mandate “to protect the diversity of nature and our quality of life”, the David Suzuki Foundation has paired up with Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, the Living Oceans Society, the Sierra Club of Canada (B.C. Chapter) to create a new national sustainable seafood awareness program to make safe seafood choices at home much easier.

Their program titled SeaChoice aims to “empower seafood consumers and business stakeholders and users to make choices that best support sustainable fisheries.”  All information about sustainable Canadian Fisheries is available on their website but for iphone users they have gone one step further and created an sustainable seafood application!

A new collaboration with Overwaitea Food Group and SeaChoice is a monumental step toward achieving sustainable standards with grocery retail stores.  Overwaitea Food Group “operates 117 stores across 80 communities in Western Canada, is one of North America’s first grocery retailers to commit to a sustainable seafood policy.” With any luck the remaining grocery retailers will soon follow in their footsteps.

For more information about SeaChoice visit their website www.seachoice.org and download your copy of Canada’s Seafood Guide, a wallet sized guide to help you make easy sustainable decisions for your family!

There has been a negative buzz surrounding the shrimp/prawn industry for quite sometime now, but do you understand why?

Shrimp/prawns are the most valued seafood world wide.  Their demand creates employment through fishing and farming across the globe with many third world economies profiting from their existence.  The more we choose shrimp cocktail and surf and turf, the more unsustainable their species and surrounding environment becomes.

According to The Monterey Bay Aquarium, “(shrimp) trawling accidentally catches and kills more than 1.8 million tons of marine life each year, including turtles, sharks and other animals, accounting for more than 25% of the world’s wasted catch…Shrimp trawling has the highest bycatch of any commercial fishery – for every pound of shrimp hauled in, three to 15 pounds of unwanted animals die in the process.”

Trawling isn’t the only issue regarding the shrimp industry.  One of North America’s greatest desires is for the Tiger prawn, Black tiger shrimp and Ebi.  Tropical shrimp and prawn farming was designed to accommodate our demand by clearing hundreds of thousands of hectares of mangrove forests.  Mangrove forests are an essential lifeline for shorelines providing nurseries, shelter and breeding places for fish and other marine life.  They also help to preserve water quality, control flooding for communities and protect shorelines from erosion.

According to www.mangroveactionproject.org “We have already lost an estimated 1 million hectares of important coastal wetlands, including mangroves, in order to make room for the artificial shrimp ponds of this boom and bust industry…Approximately 250,000 of those farmed hectares now lie abandoned because of disease and pollution.”

The shrimp industry is the most destructive ocean related industry and once again we can stop it by changing the demand for such shrimp, putting pressure on regulation and law.

If you cannot give up your desire for shrimp and prawns please choose wisely!  There are new nets now being used to vastly improve the percentage of bycatch, however it is almost impossible to know which supplier is using these safer nets.

If you must eat shrimp,  choose wisely!  Look for the BC spotted prawn, the Coon stripe prawn, the Whiteleg shrimp, the Northern pink shimp (trapped only) or the Oregon pink shrimp.  These are the most environmentally sound wild-caught and farmed species that are well managed and are not caught via trawling.

Is your favourite seafood in trouble?

In their efforts to educate and ignite sustainability initiatives within supermarkets across Canada, Greenpeace created a fish stock RED LIST bringing much needed attention to those species who are in serious trouble for survival or whose fishing practices are negatively affecting the environment and the surrounding species.

According to Greenpeace, “each species was included because the fishery or production method has negative impacts on the target species or other marine species, leads to ecosystem alterations, has social implications, or is poorly managed or illegally fished.”

As consumers we have to do our part and refuse to purchase the fish on this list!  It is up to us to make others aware of this stunning category of endangered species.  You might be surprised…

• Arctic Surf Clams
• Atlantic Cod
• Atlantic Haddock
• Atlantic Halibut
• Atlantic Salmon
• Atlantic Sea Scallops
• Chilean Sea Bass
• Greenland Halibut
• New Zealand Hoki
• Orange Roughy
• Any Sharks
• Skates and Rays
• Swordfish
• Tropical Prawns and Shrimp
• Tuna – Atlantic Bluefin Tuna – Yellowfin Tuna – Bigeye Tuna

Greenpeace Red List 2009

Choosing not to eat and purchase the species listed here is one way you can make a difference for our oceans!  Print this list off, tell your family, bring it to work, these small efforts can lead to the survival of these species and help the ocean regain some much needed strength!

For more information about the Greenpeace red list please visit:

Greenpeace-redlist