Don't Eat the Marlin

The Monterey Bay Seafood Aqauarium's "Seafood Watch" program has just issued new recommendations for consumers. Among them:

Marlin--blue and striped--has been listed as "avoid." Marlins are in "steep decline."

Atlantic herring and sardines have been downgraded from "best choice" to "good alternative." In the past, these small oily fish, which reproduce rapidly, were great choices for Omega-3 fatty acid in the human diet. But "Seafood Watch" says recent studies indicate fishing for these species is disrupting the sea floor and removing too many fish that marine mammals and seabirds need to survive. (You'll probably still find herring and sardines in your fish oil pills.)

Mid-Atlantic sea scallops have been upgraded from "avoid" to "good alternative." "Seafood Watch" says northern as well as Mid-Atlantic scallops are no longer overfished but "abundant." (Funny, Greenpeace just recenlty advised avoiding scallops from both areas as overfished. But confusion reigns in the seafood industry.)

Do not bother looking for wild-caught salmon from California or Oregan. The fishery was cancelled this year because the salmon have disappeared. No one's sure exactly why. In addition, Environmental Defense has issued a health advisory for wild salmon from Washington State because of PCBs.

New this year: "Seafood Watch" has compiled new recommendations for fish from the Great Lakes and Central U.S.