SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD: Gastronome

How to responsibly enjoy seafood.

WORDS BY JANE BLACK

 

It’s summertime, and for me that means lots of seafood: delicious, low-calorie, protein-rich fish full of Omega-3 fatty acids, which are believed to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Or is it? Pick up the paper and you’re bound to find some bad news about fish: the Federal Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have issued warnings about the dangerous mercury levels in farmed salmon and swordfish. The oceans are unable to keep up with the growing demand for popular fish. According to a 2002 report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, 47% of world fish stocks are fully exploited, 18% are overexploited and 10% are severely depleted. Meanwhile, fish farming, once hailed as the salvation of wild fish stocks, is only intensifying the problem. A report by the Worldwide Fund for Nature in Norway revealed that, on average, 3 to 3.5kg of wild-caught fish is needed to produce the fishmeal and oil that is fed to produce 1kg of farmed salmon.

Luckily, great taste and responsible seafood choices go together, says James O Fraioli, author of Ocean Friendly Cuisine: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from the World’s Finest Chefs (Willow Creek Press, 2005). Yes, we have to avoid orange roughy, which has been reduced to 16% of its original population thanks to deep-sea trawling. But there are still dozens of species to enjoy without environmental or health risks, including tilapia (a firm white fish that chef Lamar Thomas of Athens, Georgia, serves in a coconut rum and chili glaze) and Pacific sand dabs (roasted and served with Meyer lemon relish at Berkeley’s famed Chez Panisse). “If we put half the effort into selecting seafood that we do into choosing the right wine, we’d be a long way toward assuring the future health of ocean wildlife,” says Julie Packard, executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

As with wines, it’s becoming a lot easier to make good choices. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, for example, provides a national seafood guide, available for download in a handy wallet-size card from their website, www.seafoodwatch.com. Common fish are categorized on three lists: “Best Choices,” which includes Canadian snow crabs, Pacific halibut and farmed striped bass; “Good Alternatives,” such as American Snow Crabs (which are more overfished than their Canadian cousins), sea scallops, mahi mahi and Pacific cod; and species to “Avoid,” including restaurant favorites Chilean seabass, Atlantic cod, farmed salmon and monkfish.

Another resource is www.seafoodchoices. com. Sponsored by the country’s largest seafood companies, it includes a SeaSense database that joins several environmental groups’ recommendations on sustainable fish choices. As our love affair with seafood grows, the key is not to limit options but to identify the abundance of choices that are available and sustainable. In other words, eat healthily and save the planet. Now that sounds delicious.

COHO SALMON WITH PISTACHIO, BASIL AND MINT BUTTER

Chef Karen Barnaby, The Fish House in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada

6 salmon filets (6 oz each) ¼ cup shelled pistachios ¼ cup fresh basil leaves ¼ cup fresh mint leaves 1 clove garlic ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1 T lemon juice ½ cup dry white wine Salt and pepper to taste

Pulse pistachios, basil, mint and garlic in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add the butter and lemon juice and season to taste. Pulse until smooth, then refrigerate until cold. (Butter can be made up to four days in advance.)

Preheat oven to 400. Butter a 9x13 inch dish and lay out the salmon filets in a single layer. Pour the wine over the salmon and season with salt and pepper. Bake salmon until almost opaque on top, about 10 minutes.

Place 2 T of the butter on top of each salmon piece. Continue baking until salmon is just opaque in the center, about five minutes. Transfer to plates and pour the baking juices from the pan atop.

Serves six.

Reprinted with permission of Willow Creek Press