Image from Oceanic Defense
Believe it or not, fish are on the brink of extinction. A report released today found that 40 species of fish that live in the Mediterranean could disappear in just a few years due to overfishing, pollution, and habitat deterioration. It goes without saying that this is very serious. Some of the most popular fish are in danger, including bluefin tuna, dusky grouper, sea bass and hake. Many consider blue fish to be the best tasting tuna and it is often used in sushi (distinguished as maguro or toro). Almost half the species of Mediterranean sharks and rays are endangered.
Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury, which can cause major harm to your nervous system, especially for pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children. Mercury is released into the air through industrial pollution, which then falls from the air and is absorbed into streams and oceans where fish live. Raw and undercooked fish can also lead to parasite infection. Fish is often credited for having healthy omega-3 fatty acid content, which they intake when eating algae and wild plants. However, this nutrient can become unstable when fish die, which produces free radicals detrimental to the body.
Though salmon is not on this endangered list, they are also expected to go extinct in less than 10 years. This type of fish is commonly raised in factory farms, where they are fed antibiotics and often have lice problems that kills wild fish in nearby rivers and streams. Artificial coloring is often added to salmon to make it look fresh and pink, which is a whole other health issue.
So what can you do to make a difference? Stop eating fish. If this sounds difficult or you're worried about where you'll get the same health benefits, here are some ideas:
- Find mock seafood, which is available in many frozen varieties in natural markets and some big grocery chains. You can also find it on the menus of many vegetarian restaurants.
- Make fish-like dishes using ingredients like chickpeas (has a tuna taste) and/or sea vegetables.
- If you like sushi, order or make it at home without fish - it's great with just vegetables like avocado, carrots, and cucumber.
- You can get omega fatty acids from algae, walnuts, flax, pumpkin and hemp seeds and oils.
- Mock Tuna Wraps recipe (sug gested by Rozan Soleimani)
- "Once a month, we have "Fish t; Fry Friday. We buy the vegan "fish" from the Asian grocery store. It's just seasoned bean curd wrapped in seaweed. Then I batter it (in gluten free beer batter) and deep fry it." (Alyssa Ashley Bradbury)
- "Make homemade tuno salad from garbanzo beans, celery, sweet relish, seasonings, veganaise, and dulse flakes to give a fishy flavor." (Alyssa Ashley Bradbury)
- "Try the fishier tasting kelps/seaweeds in foods. It totally does the trick. It's the minerals in the sea that make fish and sea plants taste what to us is "fishy". So get those sea minerals and you just might kill that craving you had!" (Vanessa Meier)
- "There are DHA supplements made from sea vegetables. The nutrients come from what the fish is eating, not the fish!" (Alexis Antonelli)
- "I buy a brand called Finest at my local Asian market. They have a lot of mock meats, but their mock fish is insane. It even has "skin" in the form of seaweed. It's incredible. I add it to soups (even borscht) and salads, but I also made some cheap-o tartar sauce using mustard, dill relish, pepper and vegan mayo and dipped some of the "fish steaks" in that. Sooooooo gooooood! Finest also makes "cod" fillets, which are more like fish cakes. They're very chewy and quite good." (Lanna Bella)
If you do not want to give up fish entirely (at least not yet), here are some tips from Greenpeace on how to eat seafood responsibly:
- Voice concerns of overfishing, bycatch and unsustainable seafood at the grocery store and fishmonger
- Refrain from eating red list species
- Support responsible seafood merchants by shopping with them
- Eat less fish.
Got any more advice or questions? Please share in the comment section below.
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