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Louisiana cooking tends to involve fresh local seafood: gulf shrimp, crab, oysters, crawfish, catfish, redfish, and tilapia to name a few. Between The Bill H.R. 4022  Gulf Oyster Protection Act 2009 prohibiting requirements for the control of Vibrio vulnificus (a deadly bacteria in the same family as those that cause cholera), along with conflict of fresh gulf shrimp versus the economics of frozen, it may leave you wondering: just how safe is our seafood?

While seafood is lauded as a great source for heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids, there is genuine concern that the seafood we consume isn’t loaded with mercury (which can damage the brain and nervous system), or a deadly bacteria. Begin the decade trusting only sustainable sources featuring the Marine Stewardship Council logo which certifies the product is sustainable. Or use this handy guide from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute:

• SALMON ~ when buying salmon, look for “wild-caught” not farmed; Pacific, not Atlantic. Most Atlantic salmon comes from large-scale fish-farming operations who create tons of environmental pollution
• SHRIMP ~ if Gulf Shrimp is not available, insist on wild-caught in the US or British Columbia, US-farmed as an alternative. AVOID imported shrimp whose production methods cause habitat loss and pollution
• SHELLFISH ~ local crawfish, local oysters, local crabs…steer clear of imported king crab
• WHITEFISH ~ cod, halibut, flounder, and sole raised in the Pacific; avoid the Atlantic unless you know who caught it. When it comes to tilapia, US-farmed is preferred over imported which, as you may have guessed, is heavily polluted.
• TUNA ~ stick with Charlie the Tuna: canned chunk light tuna (yellowfin and skipjack) is lower in mercury than albacore tuna
• SCALLOPS ~ farmed bay scallops are preferred over sea scallops because they pose fewer environmental threats

If you want answers to any of your seafood questions, the Blue Ocean Institute has created a FishPhone text-messaging service that provides sustainable seafood information direct to your phone. TEXT 30644 with the message FISH followed by the name of the fish in question.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 10:18 pm and is filed under Green House. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.