overfishing & sushi

I fell asleep fairly early yesterday, probably around 11pm. Around 3:30am, I woke up with a start and couldn't fall back asleep for awhile. While I was up, as a perused the internet, I found this article on Sustainable Sushi (don't ask me how I ended up getting there...it was late, I was browsing).

I was appalled to find that many of the fishes I eat for sushi are becoming increasingly endangered due to overfishing. I never even gave a second thought to fish, the ocean is big, there should be a lot of fish in the sea. Fish has always been promoted as being a healthy choice of protein with its omega-3 oils and whatnot (with exception of the mercury problem). Overfishing has become an increasingly apparent problem due to globalization. I guess I have always known about Chilean Seabass nearly becoming extinct and Sturgeon caught in the wild (known for it's expensive eggs - caviar), but for some reason, I never thought of applying it to sushi.

Apparently, the bluefin tuna which has the prized fatty belly meat required for toro has declined by 90% over the last three decades. All because of sushi fad spreading around the world! The method of catching bluefin tuna using longline fishing gear can easily get entangled with sea turtles, sharks, and seabirds. And since bluefin tuna is slow to mature, most are caught before they are able to reproduce.

Another extremely common (and delicious) sushi dish that should be avoided is unagi (which is one of my absolute favorite sushi dishes). Freshwater eel has a unique life cycle where adults actually spawn in salt water thousands of miles away from their freshwater habitat. They only spawn once, and late in their lives. Eel processing farms catch the adolescents on their way back from the ocean to a freshwater habitat and raise them until they are large enough to eat. This method of farming prevents eels from ever spawning, and the farming plants produce a large amount of waste. Eels raised in the farm are more likely to contract disease and/or parasites, and if they escape (which is highly likely) they can transmit these diseases and parasites to wild eels and other oceanic life.

Other sushi to avoid are octopus (tako), yellowtail (hamachi), imported shrimp, farmed salmon, and many others. There are actually plenty of fish that can be ethically consumed and have sustainable populations (however, most are not traditional sushi dishes).

Monterey Bay Aquarium recently published a guide to sustainable fishes targeted at sushi found here.

Also, a new restaurant that opened in San Francisco may be the only sustainable sushi restaurant in the entire U.S. Tataki Sushi & Saki Bar only serves sustainable fish, so they don't even serve salmon. Instead, they replace salmon with Arctic Char. I hope to try it sometime. I don't know what I'm going to do about sushi overall on the whole - most likely lower my consumption of non-sustainable fishes (I don't know if I can cut it out completely >,<). //Sigh, just more evidence that the human race is ravaging the world.