Save the Oceans - Buy Seafood Wisely Using Your iPhone

Formerly titled, Worthwhile "App" - Seafood Watch.

I've known for some time that what seafood I chose to buy could have an affect on our oceans.  Yet, I was often confused about what I was supposed to buy, or not buy.  Farm raised?  Wild caught?  I thought I heard somewhere that it is better to buy smaller fish; they're lower on the food chain, I guess.   I thought I heard somewhere that talapia was a good choice.  Then I heard that it was not.  How was I going to find real answers in the midst of so much misinformation?

Then I discovered a resource to answer my questions - an app I could get for my iPhone!  I guess I should have known.  Yes, there is an app for that!

I only got my iPhone because my husband was crazy to get one, and if he got a cool new phone, I was going to get one, too.  As anyone who has one knows, there are hundres of thousands of useful, no-so useful, and downright stupid "apps" to buy and add to your iPhone.  Well, here is one that Everyone should dowload and Use!  And, it's FREE!

"Fishing practices worldwide are damaging our oceans—depleting fish populations, destroying habitats and polluting the water. Informed consumers can help turn the tide."

This tool, from the Monteray Bay Aquarium, is a must have for all your seafood purchases, whether at your grocery store or restaurant.  We consumers have the power to save our oceans.  It seems hard to imagine that our vast oceans, which have been a boundless source of food for all of human history, could be on the verge of destruction, but they are.  Our growing human population and technological advances in the fishing industry are taking their toll.  We must pay attention to what we consume to ensure the continuing bounty of the seas.

 I am now using this guide whenever I choose seafood.  Before I used this guide, I found it difficult to remember which seafood was appropriate to purchase, and which purchases were contributing to ocean destruction.  For example, some farmed seafood are good choices, and some are not.  So, simply following a farmed or no farmed, plan does not work.  Similarly, the same kind of fish or seafood can be sustainable or damaging, depending on the type or location of its harvest.  But, the mere fact that your choices are complicated is now no excuse for not using your purchasing power to restore our oceans.  You do not even need to have an iPhone to get the guide.  The aquarium's website had a downloadable pocket guide containing the same information.