Click here to subscribe to the print edition.New Internationalist 325July 2000Click here to search the mega index.

Fish / ACTION
ACTION


CAROLINE PENN / PANOS PICTURES

Serving suggestions - five things to remember when buying seafood

1

Shrimp and prawns are too expensive. Not for you, but the environment. Wild prawns are caught using destructive trawlers and farmed prawns are brought to you at the cost of coastal habitats (see article).

2

Farmed fish are unhealthy. A lot of salmon, trout and other commercial fishes are grown on farms which are not only an environmental menace, they also are more likely to be diseased, contain chemical traces and possibly be genetically-modified. Farmed fish raised in enclosed tanks with proper waste disposal have the least impact on the environment, but are rare.

3

Ask how this fish was caught. Thanks to consumer queries and pressure, some companies and restaurants are making commitments to avoid the most ecologically damaging fishing technology.

4

Boycott fish caught with cyanide or explosives. Live-fish restaurants and sellers of tropical aquarium fish often accept species caught by poisoning or blowing up reefs (see article). Make sure your new pet or live lobster is not part of this deadly trade.

5

Don't be fashionable. Culinary fashion is fickle and chances are that the trendy fish will soon be scarce - when New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme made blackened redfish a popular recipe, redfish in the Gulf of Mexico were almost wiped out. Base your choice of fish on sustainability.


CAROLINE PENN / PANOS PICTURES

Five great sources of information:
1 Mangrove Action Project: www.earthisland.org/map/map.html
2 Greenpeace’s Ocean Campaign: www.greenpeace.org/~oceans
3 Earth Island: www.earthisland.org
4 Traffic: www.traffic.org
5 WorldWatch Institute: www.worldwatch.org

ACTION GROUPS

AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND
Campaign for a global whale sanctuary
Greenpeace
Private Bag 92507,
Wellesley Street, Auckland.
Tel: +64 9 630 6317.
Fax: +64 9 630 7121.
E-mail: greenpeace.new.zealand
@dialb.greenpeace.org

AUSTRALIA
Stop prawn trawling in the Great Barrier Reef
North Queensland Conservation Council
PO Box 364, Townsville,
Queensland 4810.
Tel: +61 7 4771 6226.
Fax: +61 7 4721 1713.
E-mail: nqcc@byte-tsv.net.au
Website: www.nqcc.org.au/campaign.html

Stop pirate fishing in the Southern Ocean
Greenpeace
Level 4, 35-39 Liverpool St,
Sydney, New South Wales 2000.
Tel: +61 2 9261 4666.
Fax: +61 2 9261 4588.
E-mail: greenpeace@au.greenpeace.org

BRITAIN
Stop European fishing subsidies
and overfishing
WWF United Kingdom
Panda House, Weyside Park,
Godalming, Surrey GU7 1XR.
Tel: +44 1483 426 444.
Fax: +44 1483 426 409.
Website: www.wwf.org.uk/marineact

Greenpeace
Canonbury Villas, London N12PN.
Tel: +44 207 865 8100.
Fax: +44 207 865 8200.
E-mail: info@greenpeace.org

CANADA
Fish for Life Foundation
3872 Point Grey Rd, Vancouver,
British Columbia V6R 1B4.
Tel: +1 604 221 7577.
Fax: +1 604 221 7544.
E-mail: davidellis@lightspeed.bc.ca

Greenpeace
Suite 605, 250 Dundas St West,
Toronto, Ontario M5T 225.
Tel: +1 416 597 8408.
Fax: +1 416 597 8422.
E-mail: greenpeace.toronto
@dialb.greenpeace.org

US
Keep the ‘dolphin safe’ tuna label honest
Earth Island Institute
Suite 28, 300 Broadway,
San Francisco CA 94133.
Tel: +1 415 788 3666.
E-mail: marinemammal@earthisland.org
Website: www.earthisland.org/immp/

Greenpeace
1436 U St NW, Washington DC 20009.
Tel: +1 202 462 1177.
Fax: +1 202 462 4507.
E-mail: greenpeace.usa@wdc.greenpeace.org

National Audubon Society
700 Broadway, New York NY 10003.
Tel: +1 212 979 3000.
E-mail: livingoceans@audubon.org
Website: www.audubon.org


Previous page.
Choose another issue of NI.
Go to the contents page.
Go to the NI home page.
Next page.