THE DIRT
Over the past 30 years global fish consumption has almost doubled. Many species are now threatened with extinction or farmed or caught in ways that damage the marine environment.

The good news for seafood lovers is that there are better options available.

FISH  FARMING
Fish farming now accounts for over 30% of all fish consumed annually in the world. (Greenpeace)

The problems with fish farming:
. Destruction of natural eco-systems and fishing communities.

. To 'grow' a pound of salmon takes around 5 pounds of fish feed, which is made from oily fish such as herring and mackerel.

. Intensive salmon farms raise and feed between 10 and 15 000 fish per pen, with up to 12 pens. These cramped conditions encourage the spread of disease.

. High incidence of disease results in common use of antibiotics in feed.

. A typical salmon farm of 200 000 fish produces approximately the same amount of faecal matter as a town of 62, 000 people!

. Farms are often located in estuary heads this creates a flow of toxic faeces, uneaten pellets, dead fish, escaped non-native fish and chemical and antibiotic residues into the local ecosystems and further downstream.

COVENTIONAL FISHING (it certainly isn't perfect!)
. In 2000, fishing fleets worldwide burned approximately 43 million tons of fuel to catch 80 million ton of fish. That is they used about 12.5 times as much energy to catch the fish as the fish provide to those who eat them!

. "EU scientists have calculated that 7kg of marine animals are killed by trawls to produce 450g of marketable fish" (C.Clover, The End of the Line).

. Over-fishing, wasteful practices and fishing methods and illegal fishing are just some of the serious problems facing our oceans and our seafood industry.



G SPOT
Visit the BLOG for some quick and easy sustainable fish recipes.

Check out Gina's article on Sustainable Seafood in issue 6 of Cleanfood Organic.


COME CLEAN
With these solutions for seafood lovers.........

. Eat low on the seafood chain, as smaller fish tend to be less endangered and are less energy intensive to catch. When choosing big fish ensure you buy from companies with sustainable methods.

. Get to know where your fish comes from and how it is caught.

. Support small scale fishing initiatives.

Fish 4 Ever is the first and only range of tinned fish in Australia to promote explicit sustainability criteria, linking sustainable practices on land (by using organic ingredients) with sustainable practices at sea. Fish 4 Ever go much further than dolphin-friendly tuna to address a far wider range of sustainable and quality issues. www.firstray.com.au

. Consider what you put down the drain, ultimately some of this ends up in your ocean, so switch to non-toxic biodegradable cleaning products (click here for more info) and dispose of paints / car oil appropriately.

. Consider other elements of your diet, if you are consuming produce from chemical based agriculture, some of this run off is likely to end up in our oceans.

. Look for Fish 4 Ever, Ecofish or CleanFish labels that guarantee the sustainability of the product you are buying.