Sustainable Seafood

Choosing Sustainable: Sustainable seafood is a hot topic these days. “Sustainability” is based on a simple

principle—meeting today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In

terms of seafood, this means catching or farming seafood responsibly, with consideration for the long-term

health of the environment and the livelihoods of the people that depend upon the environment.

Seafood from sustainable capture fisheries:

Have a low vulnerability to fishing pressure, and hence a low probability of being overfished, because of

their inherent life-history characteristics;

Have stock structure and abundance sufficient to maintain or enhance long-term fishery productivity;

Are captured using techniques that minimize the catch of unwanted and/or unmarketable species;

Are captured in ways that maintain natural functional relationships among species in the ecosystem,

conserve the diversity and productivity of the surrounding ecosystem, and do not result in irreversible

ecosystem state changes; and

Have a management regime that implements and enforces all local, national and international laws and

utilizes a precautionary approach to ensure the long-term productivity of the resource and integrity of

the ecosystem.

Overfishing: Large fish that live a long time and those that are slow to reproduce are among the most

vulnerable. Additionally, when one kind of fish is no longer plentiful, fishermen may move on to new species.

When the larger fish are exhausted, they move on to the smaller fish. The problem is that these smaller fish are

also food for other fish, sea birds and sea mammals. Removing them will affect the entire ecosystem. This is

called fishing down the food web.

Habitat Damage: Bottom trawling and dredging are top offenders, because they destroy everything in their

path. In Alaskan waters alone, bottom trawls remove over one million pounds of deep water corals and sponges

from the sea floor each year. In general, traps and pots cause less seafloor damage and catch fewer unintended

species than other types of fishing gear that contact the seafloor.

Bycatch: Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals, including whales, dolphins and

porpoises, die as bycatch. As many as 200,000 loggerhead sea turtles and 50,000 leatherback sea turtles are

caught annually. Longline fishing also kills hundreds of thousands of seabirds when they become entangled in

driftnets or caught on longline hooks. Boats need to be outfitted with more selective gear to reduce this

outrageous consequence of trying to haul in thousands of fish at one time.

Eco-labels: An eco-label is a “seal of approval” awarded to fisheries and aquaculture operations deemed

sustainable and responsible by third-party certification bodies. The certification process typically involves an

assessment of the operation of the fishery or farm, how it’s regulated, and its impact on the environment. If the

fishery or farm meets the Eco label’s standards, it is certified. Eco labels also often include chain of custody

requirements: the measures that guarantee the product bearing the Eco label really came from the certified

fishery or farm. It’s important to note, however, that the certification process can require a large investment of

time and money - resources that some fisheries and aquaculture operations cannot afford.

POPULATION AND HABITAT IMPACTS:Although some populations are below target levels, U.S. wild-caught red grouper is still a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations. Above target population levels in the Gulf of Mexico. In the US Gulf of Mexico they use hand lines and hand operated pole and lines. Fish gear used to catch red grouper rarely contacts the ocean bottom and has minimal impacts on habitat. Below target population levels and fishing rate promotes population growth in the South Atlantic, where a rebuilding plan is in place. Red grouper caught in Mexico by the industrial bottom longline fleet. The stock is overfished; in addition, red grouper is listed as "Near Threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The catch of turtles and other vulnerable grouper and snapper species is another serious concern. The new fishery management plan that was approved in 2014 hasn't been implemented yet, so there are no current measures to improve the status of red grouper and many other species caught in this fishery. Most grouper caught by the industrial bottom longline fishery is imported fresh to the U.S.

POPULATION AND HABITAT IMPACTS: Queen Conch is found in the Caribbean, from the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico as far south as Venezuela.Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) has been overfished and are considered an endangered species. They are being caught illegally, which is not allowing their population to increase. The seafloor and food web is affected by the overfishing and catching methods of the fishermen in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). The fishermen use other species as bait during their hook and line method of capture. In Florida, it's illegal to catch queen conch commercially or recreationally. The Caribbean Sea in Honduras catches Queen Conch by diving for them and they also have a catch limit to prevent overfishing. The seafloor and food web is not affected by the dive method used by fisherman in the Caribbean Sea.

CONCH

RED GROUPER

POPULATION AND HABITAT IMPACTS: The wild population in the South Atlantic is not overfished and is not subject to overfishing. Domestic shrimp are found from southern Chesapeake Bay to the Florida Keys. . Pink shrimp caught in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Southern Atlantic with otter trawls and Florida with skimmer trawls. Even though all U.S. states enforce federal requirements that otter trawls have turtle excluder devices (TEDs) and Florida requires TEDs on skimmer trawls, bycatch of threatened or endangered turtles remains a concern. Pink shrimp stocks are healthy in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Southern Atlantic. Imported wild shrimp from Mexico Gulf of Mexico are caught with trawling nets that clear-cut the ocean floor, catching and killing endangered or overfished species such as sea turtles. Most imported farmed raised shrimp are farmed in Asia or Central America, where they were likely treated with chemicals or antibiotics and grown in their own raw sewage. These shrimp are often raised in unsealed pools or mesh cages in the ocean, and the contaminants are allowed to flow in and out of the water, polluting the sea.

POPULATION AND HABITAT IMPACT: Albacore tuna caught in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans with hand lines or hand operated poles. The stocks are healthy in the Pacific and South Atlantic, and overfishing is no longer occurring in the North Atlantic. In addition, these fishing methods have low bycatch and habitat impacts. Albacore tuna caught in the North Atlantic Ocean (except in U.S. waters) North Pacific and the Mediterranean Sea with pelagic longlines. This fishery also catches Atlantic Bluefin and bigeye tunas, which are depleted and being overfished in the North Atlantic. Bycatch of critically endangered Oceanic whitetip sharks, turtles and other species is another serious concern. In addition, the management measures to reduce the catch of threatened, endangered or overfished species are ineffective in these international fisheries. Albacore tuna stocks are depleted in the North Atlantic, but overfishing is not occurring.

PINK SHRIMP

TUNA

ATLANTIC SALMON

POPULATION AND HABITAT IMPACTS: Significantly below target level and U.S. fishermen are prohibited from catching wild Atlantic salmon. Virtually all Atlantic salmon is now farmed rather than wild-caught. Atlantic salmon farmed in closed tanks is a best choice because there is less effluent, disease, escapes and habitat impacts. In Canada, Scotland and Norway, disease transmission from farmed salmon to wild fish is a major concern. The farms have a negative impact on the environment because of the waste, number of fish or eggs used to feed farm animals, and escapes from the farm. Atlantic salmon farmed in Canada's Atlantic and Norway in net pens. In Canada, the overuse of chemicals and the potential impacts of escapes and disease on wild populations are serious concerns. In Norway, total antibiotic use is considered low, 30% of the antibiotics that are used are listed as critically important for human medicine by the World Health Organization, and the remainder are considered highly important. Pesticide use is substantial even though the industry is increasingly using non-chemical alternatives for dealing with sea lice parasites. Sea lice transfer from farmed to wild salmon also poses a threat to wild salmon and trout populations. In addition, escapes of farmed salmon are a major risk to the genetic composition and fitness of wild, native salmon populations.

POPULATION AND HABITAT IMPACTS:Chinook salmon farmed in New Zealand in marine and freshwater net pens. There is good evidence that environmental impacts are minimal, including no disease or parasite outbreaks and a low risk of impacts from escapes. Chinook salmon caught in Washington's Puget Sound by any method and on British Columbia’s South Coast with drift gillnets. Drift gill net and trolling are used to catch salmon which can be distributive to the natural environment and also catch other endangered species. Most of the stock from Puget Sound in Washington is a threatened species. The fisheries in California and Oregon are recommended because they are avoiding the threatened species, but Chinook salmon is not considered sustainable by some environmental councils.

CHINOOK SALMON

POPULATION AND HABITAT IMPACTS:Pollock caught in the U.S. Georges Bank and U.S. Gulf of Maine with bottom gill nets or trawls and Canadian Maritimes with bottom gill nets or longlines. Pollock stocks are healthy, but other endangered or overfished species are caught in these fisheries. There are also concerns about management effectiveness and habitat impacts. In Canada, it's unclear if the stocks are being fished at a sustainable level. Pollock caught in the Canadian Maritimes with bottom trawls discards more bycatch than the gill net and longline fisheries.

POPULATION AND HABITAT IMPACTS:Tilapia is native to the Nile River in Africa, so it is rare to encounter wild tilapia. In Ecuador the Tilapia is farm raised in ponds and in the U.S. and Canada they use recirculating aquaculture systems. Tilapia farmed in Peru in raceways. There is little or no chemical use, and farm waste (effluent) is treated and used to irrigate agricultural lands. Only a small amount of fishmeal is used in the feed, and it's sourced from fisheries that are not overfished.

POLLOCK

TILAPIA

Rubric for sustainable seafood menu

CATEGORY 5 4 3 2 - 1Attractiveness & Organization

The menu has exceptionally attractive formatting and well-organized information.

The menu has attractive formatting and well-organized information.

The menu has well-organized information.

The menu's formatting and organization of material are confusing to the reader.

Required information

All required information is included: 4 sustainable seafood options, where and how it was caught, and one eco-label

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Menu is missing two pieces of information:

Menu is missing 3 or more pieces of information.

CreativityDrawing is more creative than printed pictures

The menu is 100% creative and is very colorful. Catchy restaurant nameinteresting seafood entreespictures of the entrees

The menu is more than 75% creative and has color. 3 pictures or drawings.

Less than 50% of the menu is colorful and creative.2 pictures or drawings

The menu has very little creative organization. Very little color1 or no pictures or drawings

Writing - Grammar There are no grammatical mistakes in the brochure.

There are no grammatical mistakes in the brochure after feedback from an adult.

There are 1-2 grammatical mistakes in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.

There are several grammatical mistakes in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.

Writing - Mechanics Capitalization and punctuation are correct throughout the brochure.

There are 1-2 capitalization and/or punctuation errors in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.

There are 3-4 capitalization and/or punctuation errors in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.

There are 5+ capitalization and/or punctuation errors in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.