Do You Know Where Does Your Seafood Come From

 Sea provides us a lot of things. Food, livelihood, entertainment, and sailing are a few of them. You may imagine the usual scene of fishermen with their nets when you hear the term seafood but things have changed now.

Commercial companies have been employing high technology equipment to track and catch the fishes in the oceans. High-Technology equipment helps them catch a large number of fishes and other marine animals. But this is causing a serious impact on the ocean ecosystem. Fishes that are in high demand such as Salmon, Tuna and several others are hunt more. This results in the decline of these varieties in several parts of the world. This also includes some endangered and protected species.

Another problem associated with modern fishing is bycatch. The fishing industry uses the term bycatch to represent those unwanted fishes that come along with the target fishes. As these fishes are undesirable, they are thrown back into the sea dead or alive. With the growing competition and the demand, the situation is becoming worse day by day.

Fortunately, several individuals and non-profit organizations have joined the sustainable seafood movement started in 1990 to save the oceans. However, their contributions alone would not be enough to change the current situation. Everyone has to take responsibility and perform the necessary things.

Now what should you do? Well, you can do a lot of things. Being a consumer, the first thing you can do is to buy sustainable seafood. Brands and companies that provide sustainable seafood take into concern issues such as overfishing, bycatch that are seriously damaging the ocean ecosystem. They follow certain rules and standards set by international communities such as FAQ. This includes certain practices such as no target stocking, use of selective fishing gear, no bycatch, etc.

You can also drive the market for sustainable seafood by demanding sustainable seafood from local restaurants. The consumer can eat those fishes that are caught locally or that are lower in the food chain such as codfish. It would be great to educate yourself on endangered species and avoid eating them.

You can also go with farm fishes. These fishes are raised in a closed environment or a pond. It doesn't matter where you are thinking to buy your fish from, but make sure that it is posing minimum effect on the nearby habitat. Whether the fishes are placed in the open ocean or raised in a pond, the structure should be built in harmony with the environment.

What Are the Benefits of Eating Sustainable Seafood

 As more and more doctors are recommending seafood, it has become difficult to take into consideration the sustainability and ecosystems associated with fishing.

What is a sustainable fish? Does the risk associated with fishing exceed the health benefits of fish? What one should eat, raised fish or wild fish? Well, there can be a number of questions where one can get lost. So, let's understand what are the benefits of eating sustainable fishes?

1. They are healthy

Numerous sustainable fishes are high in protein, nutrients, minerals, and heart-sound omega-3s while containing low measures of destructive synthetic chemicals. Overfish fish, for example, Salmon and Tuna, as a general rule, contain Mercury, PCBs, and contaminants. Bigger fish that are higher up on the food chain will, in general, have more elevated levels of unsafe synthetic chemicals because of bioaccumulation. Thus, sustainable seafood is pure and healthy.

2. You have to spend less money on them

Sustainable fishes such as trout and Arctic char are quite affordable, unlike salmon. You can also buy farm-raised fishes instead of expensive wild-caught fish to save your money.

3. You can consume seafood in the form of fish oil

One can gain the immense benefits of eating seafood by consuming it in the form of supplements and fish oil. The fish oil is obtained from fishes that are caught to feed humans as well as from the fishes that are caught to feed animals. Buying sustainable fish oil and supplements not only benefits your health but also benefits the ocean's ecosystems.

4. It will help you support local farmers

Local farmers survive on small scale fisheries, unlike big commercial fishing companies that can hunt fishes in large amounts using modern gears and fleets. By choosing sustainable seafood and third-party certified products, you will help poor farmers to earn their living.

Is it wise to stop eating fish?

Several people claim that one should stop eating fish as the oceans are getting depleted of marine life. We think it is not the solution because several fishermen are dependent on fishes for their livelihood plus fish is packaged with a lot of health benefits. They are high in nutrients, vitamins, minerals and high-quality. They contain omega-3 fatty acids, which is vital for a healthy body and reduces the risk of disease such as heart attacks.

They boost brain health, prevent depressions, reduce the risk of autoimmune diseases, and can improve sleep quality and many more.

Fish is a delicious food having a lot of health benefits. So, instead of taking a drastic step, you must take a certain step that can benefit both the environment's being and human health. The best way to achieve this is to start looking for sustainable seafood.

How to check if the seafood you are buying is sustainable or not?

Sustainable fish has become an intriguing issue in the previous decade because of worries of overfishing and seabed harming fishing practices. For fish to be described as sustainable, numerous elements are considered like what sort of feed is given to the fish if it is cultivated raised, ecological effect of fishing, angling strategies, and current stock of the fish, etc.

There are numerous sustainable seafood certifications and programs that work in collaboration with fisheries, farms, and companies to promote sustainable seafood practices and to guarantee a protected, solid and responsible fish supply. You can check for these certifications when you are going to buy groceries. You can also look in for sustainability options when you are going to eat at a nearby restaurant.

According to the report of the international union for conservation on wild fishes, more than 85 percent of the world's fisheries are completely misused. So, picking reasonably cultivated fish lessens the weight on wild fisheries and permits them to reproduce.

At last, seafood is a wonderful source of protein, omega 3 fatty acids, but to create the right balance among the fish, humans, and oceans nothing is better than opting for sustainable seafood choices.