FURTHER to the Slow Food international email that was recently sent concerning Slow Fish in Genoa in April 2009, The Ecologist has a couple of interesting articles about the plight of the world’s fish resources.

Whether it is wild or farmed is not a simple way to decide what fish to buy. Below are four points for consideration.

‘One of the most popular and regularly eaten fish in the UK is canned tuna. Most tuna is caught using methods that cause significant bycatch, or target juveniles, and all stocks of all species of tuna are fished at full capacity. If buying tuna, look for the MCS logo, make sure it is skipjack or buy from a responsible canned fish company such as Fish4Ever.

‘With farmed marine species, go for smaller fish lower down the food chain, or shellfish (mussels, scallops and oysters, which feed on things that naturally occur in water and improve water quality – not tiger prawns), and herbivores such as Tilapia (farmed in the UK in lakes) and carp. Organic is better than non-organic, as stock densities are limited, feed sourced sustainably and use of chemicals and sea lice treatments restricted.

‘Not all wild fish are off limits, but be choosy about origin and how it was caught. Go to http://www.fishonline.org/ for lists of which to avoid and which to eat. With salmon, for example, five species of Pacific salmon caught in Alaskan waters are MSC-certified – a much better choice than Atlantic salmon, stocks of which are severely depleted. Take pressure off the overfished species such as tuna, shrimp, salmon, haddock and cod by choosing lesser-known alternatives such as dab.

‘Use your voice to change the policy on fishing and marine issues. WWF is campaigning to establlish internationally recognised standards for eleven important farmed fish and shellfish. The Save the Sea Campaign aims to bring an end to illegal fishing and Greenpeace is campaigning to set up marine reserves in order to help threatened species time to recover and to protect battered ecosystems. Other groups such as Oceana have been campaigning for over 20 years.’

A recent article in the Ecologist by Andrew Wasley and Jim Wickens “Fishy business” examines in depth the problems of the West’s voracious appetite for fish