Fish Guilt

Ann-Marie Luciano Bio

I love sushi. It's not just a good treat now and again - it's a way of life for me. Ever since I tried my first sushi when I was a summer intern during law school (when someone else was paying for it), I became addicted to the tasty combination of rice, seaweed wrap, raw fish and wasabi.

Lately, when I read about the ever-increasing predictions for massive extinction of fish species in just a few decades, my guilt makes me wonder whether my act of purchasing sushi simply speeds up the machine of extinction. Should I stop eating fish?

Just this week it was announced that more than 80 types of fish are now extinct or have gone missing from Malaysian waters. A well-publicized study finished a few years ago stunningly predicted that all commercial fish stocks might be extinct by 2050.

The predictions are dire not only for seafood lovers, but also for the consequences to the entire ecosystem. It's easy to see how such significant species loss could ripple across the global ecosystem because of the interdependency of all marine species. Although ecosystems with a diversity of species can survive overfishing and other threats, once biodiversity is lost the extinction of species across the entire system increases exponentially.

Who's to blame? Many scientists believe a variety factors are in play, such as overfishing and global warming and its effects on water temperature and currents. According to a newly released report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 52% of commercial marine fish stocks are fully exploited and 8% are depleted. Another recent study predicts that by 2050 significant numbers of marine species will migrate from warm, tropical seas to cooler waters near the Arctic and Southern Ocean, which in itself could lead to the extinction of many marine species in tropical waters.

How should this knowledge affect what we eat? Luckily, there are many resources that provide updates about the most endangered species of fish so that you can avoid them at the restaurant. Monterey Bay Aquarium has an incredible variety of "Seafood Watch" pocket guides on their website, organized by geographic region that you can print out and carry with you when you go out to eat. These guides list "best choices,""good alternatives" and fish to "avoid." The good news for me is that there's a sushi guide; the bad news is that my favorite types of sushi are not on the "Best Choices" list.

I guess it's time for me to expand my horizons, at least while there is still the option.

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