Being a pescetarian has made me much more knowledgable about what I eat and how it can effect my body. A pescetarian is a person who does not eat poultry, pork, or red meat. Most will still eat eggs and other dairy products, but stay away from any other animal by products... Except fish. Fish is on the can eat and will eat tons of list.
Fish is a great way to get vitamins, minerals, proteins, and fatty acids. But, it can also come with a few downsides. Since I eat a lot of fish, I have to watch what kinds I eat, where they are harvested, and how they effect my body and our environment. Here is a quick list of all the trigger words to know when purchasing fish from a market or that snazzy restaurant. Get a good understanding of a few and you will be a fish pro in no time!
Bioaccumulation
When a higher food chain animal eats a lower food chain animal, it is digesting everything the prey had digested. This includes the protein, nutrients, and pollution. Digested contaminants like mercury and PCBs stay in the body and, as we move up the food chain, will be found in higher quantities. This process is called bioaccumulation.
You can avoid eating too many harmful pollutants by limiting the intake of top food chain predator fish. Any large fish that eats other fish (grouper, tuna, sea bass, etc.) should only be eaten once per week or less, and only in small quantities to avoid too much digestion of pollutants.
Open Ocean or Caged Aquaculture
Just like any other food industry, fish are farmed. Some fish come from farming facilities on land, but there are a great many fish that come from open ocean aquaculture. Open Ocean Aquaculture is a type of fish farming that uses large cages placed throughout the ocean. The fish swim in a large, contained area until they are the right size to be farmed.
At first, this may sound great! The fish get to swim freely and are fed routinely up until it is there time, kinda like free range for the ocean. The only problem with that theory is the major issue we are having with invasive species.
Most of these aquaculture farmed fish are not commonly found where they are being grown, or the farming quantities are far more than there would be in nature. Between fish escapees, disease, and the waste they produce, it is becoming a major health hazard for the indigenous species of that area.
By asking if your fish were farmed through aquaculture, you can help all the little fishies in the great big blue!
Over Fishing
Buying fresh caught fish can bring up an issue on its own. There are certain fish populations that have either been overfished, or have such a slow life cycle that they cannot keep up with our demands. Knowing what fish are shrinking in numbers can guarantee we still have them in the future.
If you find out a certain fish population is shrinking, try to get the U.S. farmed version instead. This will ensure that we are letting the wild population grow, while cultivating a good source of non-invasive options.
Bottom Trawling
If you have ever looked at an arial view of Japan's waters and seen those long white lines on the ocean floor, you have seen bottom trawling. This process rakes the ocean floor as a means of fishing. By doing this, ecosystems are destroyed and a large number of wildlife is killed through bycatch.
Bottom trawling is a common fishing method for shellfish and deep sea fish. Some places, including Hawaii, have made certain forms of trawling illegal.
Long Line Fishing
This form of fishing uses a long line (you don't say) with baited hooks extending from it like branches. Some lines are for surface fishing and have as few as 25 hooks, while others are for deep sea fishing and have as many as 2,500 baited hooks.
Long line fishing has a high incidental death rate among sea turtles, birds, and sharks who get caught on the hooks or in the lines.
Trolling
A method by which multiple lines, each holding one hook, are trailed behind a moving boat. This method is better for fishing since there is minimal environmental impact and any bycatch can be quickly released.
Hook and Lining
Hook and lining is the most traditional way to catch a fish. Lines can have multiple baited hooks, but bycatch is less likely since it can be quickly released. This method uses a pole and a person maning it... The good ol' fashioned way
Gillnetting
Gillnetting uses multiple nets that are located at different levels throughout the water and trailed behind a fishing boat. The net has holes small enough to let the head of a desired fish through, but not the body.
This method can have a great deal of bycatch since any larger animal could also be trapped or entangled- sea turtles are one of the most common bycatches from this form of fishing.
Places where there is not a large variation among the fish populations are areas where this form of fishing is not harmful. Gillnetting can safely be used in Alaska for salmon fishing.