Seafood is the largest traded food commodity in the world. The amount coming from aquaculture production is increasing but nearly half the global supply comes from boats that go out and capture wild fish from the world's oceans, lakes and rivers. This is the only significant commercially traded protein source on earth that is still hunted in the wild.
And it's a remarkably self-sufficient and renewable food source. All we have to do is not destroy the habitat and not take too much fish each year. The fish will do the rest, replenishing their numbers between harvests.
But how do consumers know which fish stocks are protected in this way and environmentally safe to eat? Or if the fish they are told they are buying is, in fact, accurate? Mislabeling of seafood is all too common.
Seafood is a regular part of our national diet in the United States. While many people try to "buy local" and often confuse that with a guarantee of sustainability, Americans continue to import more than 90 percent of our seafood (some fish caught by U.S. fishermen is exported for processing and re-imported to the U.S.), at the same time exporting more than 63 percent per year to other countries. The numbers are staggering and make clear that safeguarding wild seafood supplies requires a global approach.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Marine Stewardship Council