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10/20/2009
How do you choose between the health of you and your family, and the health of the oceans when it comes to eating seafood?
Now there’s an answer.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has identified a “Super Green” list of wild and farmed seafood items that are both heart-healthy and produced in ways that protect the health of the oceans. The list was developed in collaboration with scientists from Environmental Defense Fund and the Harvard School of Public Health.
The “Super Green” list makes its debut as part of a new report, Turning the Tide: The State of Seafood, released by the aquarium today (October 20, 2009). It offers consumers the best choices when it comes to heart-healthy, vitamin-rich options that are low in contaminants and are ocean- friendly – a win-win for all.
The list is available online at www.montereybayaquarium.org/supergreen/.
“We understand that seafood consumers may be overwhelmed by all of the information they hear about seafood,” said aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard, “so we wanted to create a list that addresses all the concerns people may have and shows how you can choose healthy seafood that’s good for the oceans, too.”
The aquarium worked with longtime partner Environmental Defense Fund – which provides the contaminant warnings for the aquarium’s respected Seafood Watch pocket guides – and scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health to determine which species the three groups could agree provide maximum health benefits for humans and the environment.
“It is wonderful that Monterey Bay Aquarium is highlighting the important health benefits of fish consumption,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, who has published extensively on the issue. “The ‘Super Green’ list offers information for consumers interested in both the Seafood Watch program’s environmental guidance and the cardiac benefits from eating seafood. This is a great advance, as heart disease kills more men and women in the U.S. than any other disease.”
“Now more than ever, consumers are concerned with the health and environmental impacts of their seafood choices,” said Tim Fitzgerald, a fisheries policy specialist with Environmental Defense Fund. “The Super Green list is an excellent tool for choosing fish that are healthy for them AND the oceans.”
The “best of the best” list offers seven such choices, and includes the U.S. consumers’ top three favorite seafoods: tuna, salmon and shrimp. Albacore tuna caught by pole-and-line or troll-caught from the U.S. or British Columbia is one such option, and is available both canned and fresh. Wild-caught salmon from Alaska and Oregon pink shrimp are also “Super Green” options.
All three are Seafood Watch “Best Choices” and are certified as sustainable to the standards of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
The Super Green list also includes mussels and oysters – sustainable farmed shellfish that contribute to ocean health because they require no additional feed, and clean ocean waters as they filter their food. Shellfish such as these are low in fat and unsaturated fat, and oysters are high in zinc.
All of the “Super Green” choices provide optimal levels of omega-3 fatty acids for human health. The list includes other seafood items that are slightly lower in omega-3 fatty acids, but that still meet Seafood Watch criteria as “Best Choices,” and Environmental Defense Fund standards for low levels of contaminants.
Another Seafood Watch partner – ARAMARK, a world leader in professional facilities management and food services – put the aquarium and Harvard researchers together for conversations that resulted in development of the “Super Green” list.
The “Super Green” list was released on the 25th anniversary of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the 10th anniversary of the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.
The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans.
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