Sushi guides for the conscientious

Dining on sushi or sashimi tonight?

If you favor a healthy marine environment and protection of species, you might avoid ordering bluefin tuna (hon maguro/kuro maguro), freshwater eel (unagi) or farmed salmon (sake).

They’re either over-harvested, farmed in a manner that pollutes or caught using destructive and/or indiscriminate gear.

Much better choices: Wild-caught Alaskan salmon (sake), farmed scallops (hotate) or Pacific halibut (hirame).

These are just some examples cited by the conservation groups Monterey Bay Aquarium, Blue Ocean Institute and Environmental Defense Fund.

On Oct. 22, each will unveil color-coded consumer guides to help like-minded people make appropriate choices while dining in sushi restaurants.

"The reality is quite simple," said Sheila Bowman, Seafood Watch outreach manager at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. "If you care about the future of the oceans, you’ll avoid red-listed sushi."

The guides will be printable from the organizations' websites, or can be downloaded into mobile devices. And yes, more of your favorite items are red-listed.

--Pete Thomas

Photo by Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Jon K.]

I couldn't find uni (sea urchin) on any of the lists. I'm hoping that means it is promoted as a sushi to eat.

[Alison Barratt]

Hi Jon,

You will find some good choices for uni, as well as uni to avoid on the Monterey Bay Aquarium sushi pocket guide. Please do check our recommendations when they are published on October 22 at www.seafoodwatch.org and find out how your uni choices can help the oceans!