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Food & Drink

How sustainable is your seafood, really?


That saying about how there are plenty of fish in the sea is, in fact, untrue. Sure, there are lots of fish and molluscs and crustaceans and even cephalopods swimming around in the ocean, but unfortunately for them, they share the Earth with humans. And the thing about we humans is that we tend to take what we want.

We’re also insatiably hungry for seafood.

So what’s a lobster-loving eco-warrior to do? Eating less lobster is a start. But developing an awareness about sustainable seafood is another.

West of the Rockies, Ocean Wise (a certification program run by the Vancouver Aquarium) is popular, with a strong presence in B.C.’s seafood restaurants and a growing following across the country. In Ontario, however, sustainable-seafood labelling is less common. The Marine Stewardship Council is trying to change that.

The global non-profit promotes sustainable fishing practices and has actually operated in Canada for about 10 years. Now, they’re pushing for label recognition and more mindfulness amongst home cooks and restaurant industry folk alike.

At a recent media event held at Beast restaurant, members of Canada’s MSC team explained how the program works. Seafood is MSC certified if it meets the following criteria: the target stock must meet a sustainable level fishing for the stock must have minimal impact on the ecosystem and the fishery must be responsible. Seafood must also be traceable and wild.

What does that mean for consumers, exactly? Packaged seafood that meets MSC standards has a blue MSC label on it. In Toronto, over 70 per cent of seafood sold at Loblaws makes the grade, making it MSC’s largest grocery partner. Other chains, like Whole Foods, Costco and Walmart also carry sustainable fish.

Scallops_MSC.jpg

Marine Stewardship Council

MSC-certified scallops at a grocery store in Toronto.

At restaurants, MSC certification is less obvious, since the logo doesn’t often appear on menus. But local chefs are passionate about sustainable seafood, as evident at the event at Beast. Proprietor Scott Vivian was joined by his chef de cuisine Colin Moise, the Tempered Chef’s Bertrand Alépée, Los Colibris’s Elia Herrera and Montreal chef Antonio Park to create a menu showcasing sustainable seafood. It included Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab, Atlantic halibut, Quebec northern shrimp and Nova Scotia scallops.

Compared to the Ocean Wise program, MSC certification is trickier for restaurateurs. It’s not just about putting sustainable species on plates – or opting for farmed over wild – MSC is about choosing fisheries that catch and sell sustainable seafood. So a restaurant would need to ensure that their supplier purchased seafood from an MSC-certified fishery.

In Canada, the organization’s largest restaurant partner is actually McDonald’s. Their Filet-O-Fish is made from sustainably caught Alaskan Pollock. According to MSC’s website, fast-food brand Bento Sushi also serves sustainable fish.

While MSC is most established in Europe, they’re working on building blue-label recognition here in Canada. There’s no need to feel guilty every time you consume fish and seafood, but it’s time to start paying attention to our ocean populations.

michelled@nowtoronto.com | @michdas

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