Eating Your Way to Social Good: How to Ensure Your Summer Seafood is Good for the Planet and the Local Economy
Summer is the season of seaside vacations and fish feasts, whether it’s an elegant dinner out or a casual backyard barbecue.
At Business For Good, we believe that it’s our responsibility to support the most sustainable dining choices possible, both at home in San Diego and when we’re on vacation elsewhere.
Making sure the fish you eat has been sourced without undue harm to the environment is important for the health of our marine ecosystems and our local economy.
The cost of our current fishing system
Being conscious about our seafood has some other added benefits as well, according to Tommy “The Fishmonger” Gomes, partner at Tunaville Market and Grocery and longtime Outdoor Channel TV host.
“Local fish just tastes better,” Tommy says. “They’re the healthiest stocks of fish that are caught without destroying the environment around them, and they’re better quality overall.”
Much of the fish we buy or order at a restaurant is sourced from big multinational companies that generate tons of pollution and greenhouse gas to farm fish like tilapia overseas. These farms involve crowded conditions and low-quality feed made from pig blood and animal feces. This leads to less healthy fish. The taste and quality of these fish go down even further once they are frozen and shipped worldwide.
“Everyone wants cheap fish,” says Tommy. “But they don’t want to know what goes into farming or catching it.”
Additionally, much of the seafood we find at restaurants and grocery stores worldwide is caught by large commercial fishing boats.
Big fishers often rely on destructive methods like dredging, or dragging the ocean floor with rake-like tools for massive catches of fish. Overfishing, destroying delicate marine ecosystems, and killing species like sharks, dolphins, turtles, and sea birds are left in their wake.
It’s a hard truth to swallow: “affordable” seafood comes at an incredibly high price for the environment. As Tommy reminds us, “Cheap seafood isn’t good, and good seafood isn’t cheap.”
Both Tommy and Vicki Conlon, Ocean Friendly Restaurants Lead for the Surfrider Foundation, agree that we must first understand the importance of eating sustainably-sourced seafood. Then, we can “vote” for it with our dollars while on vacation, and advocate for a better food system here in San Diego.
So how can you, as a home cook or diner, make more sustainable seafood choices? Here are the top tips from Tommy and Vicki for eating your way to social good when buying fish or dining out this summer.
Food for thought
- Know what’s in season. Just as we (ideally) eat fruits and vegetables that are in season, we should eat seafood that’s in season as well. When figuring out what kind of fish or seafood to cook, Vicki suggests referencing guides such as FishChoice. If you’re traveling, you can enter your destination into Surfrider’s Ocean Friendly Restaurants guide to see what sustainable dining choices are nearby.
- Smaller portions, higher quality. Tommy encourages cooks and diners to embrace the mantra of “eat less, eat better.” Opt for smaller portions of high-quality, sustainably sourced seafood rather than larger quantities of cheaper, unsustainable options.
- Support local markets. Visit local seafood markets, such as the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, where you can talk directly to fishermen and learn about how they catch the fish on sale. “The folks selling at Dockside Market love to talk about what they do,” says Tommy. “Or come and visit me at Tunaville.” This direct interaction can foster a deeper connection to your food and the people who bring it to your table.
- Informed dining. If you go to a local fish market, ask the fishers which restaurants they sell to. Use the Surfrider Ocean Friendly Restaurants guide to see which restaurants are sourcing sustainably across the nation. When at a restaurant, ask them where their fish come from, or have your children do so (“a great summer lesson for the kiddos,” says Vicki), and don’t be afraid to leave if they can’t answer that question. As an alternative, Tommy suggests travelers “find a mom and pop place that’s on the water, and ask for the best local fish they’ve got.”
When asked if he knew of restaurants in San Diego that source mostly from local fishers, Tommy recommended Mitch’s Seafood in Point Loma and Fish Guts in Barrio Logan.
Sustainable fish supports local jobs
Finding locally sourced seafood at our neighborhood grocery store can be tough. It’s also challenging to make the most sustainable choice when we’re eating out—especially if we’re on vacation, unfamiliar with the area, and traveling with family members who just want fast food.
Even in waterfront locales like San Diego, you can’t always assume that the fish you’re ordering was sourced locally and sustainably. Tommy says that over 80 percent of restaurants in San Diego source their fish from overseas because it’s less expensive.
“Most San Diego fishers can’t afford to compete with the big, multinational food companies that farm and freeze and drag the ocean for fish from all over,” says Tommy. “Fishermen in San Diego are still paid the same rates as decades ago, while costs for fuel, insurance, and permits keep going up. They have to charge more than the big companies because there’s no other way for them to stay in business.”
But the tide is changing. Even though it’s difficult to do so, many San Diego restaurants and markets are trying to do the right thing for the planet while being profitable.
Vicki suggests helping your favorite local restaurant become more sustainable by asking them if they’ve heard about the Surfrider Ocean Friendly Restaurants program, and pointing them to the program’s website. It’s free to register if they meet all the criteria, and it comes with some great benefits—not to mention a boost in business from sustainability-minded customers.
Finally, according to Tommy, supporting restaurants that buy from local fishers, and buying your fish at locales like the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, is key to keeping an important part of our local economy healthy.
When restaurants, markets, and home cooks buy from local fishers, they directly support jobs in their own backyards.
The thing about eating local fish is that it created jobs before it was even caught,” says Tommy. “People who work at docks, who sell fuel, the forklift drivers, packers, buyers, the front of house workers at restaurants, waste management, the list goes on. Their taxes pay for local services and schools, which your families and business benefit from.”
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