Nutrition Wonderland

Seafood is such an important part of a nutritionally sound diet that it cannot be overstated. Countless studies and articles on this site attest to that fact, almost daily. There is, however, grave concerns over mercury bioaccumulation pollution in big fish in tuna and shark, PCB contamination in farmed salmon and generally just worry about overfishing to world fisheries.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium steps into this murky world with answers. Their Seafood Watch Guide is the gold standard if you want to know which species are free from contaminants and overfishing worries.

But recently the aquarium went above and beyond the ‘green’ rating they give good species, creating a super green list of the best seafood options. Below are their findings:

Note: Both charts can be re-categorized by clicking on the column headings

Seafood Watch List, Super Green List (as of October 2009)

Fish	Growing Method	Source
Albacore Tuna	Troll or Pole-caught	US or British Columbia
Mussels	Farmed	Anywhere
Oysters	Farmed	Anywhere
Pacific Sardines	Wild-caught	Pacific Waters
Pink Shrimp	Wild-caught	Oregon
Rainbow Trout	Farmed	US, likely
Salmon (any variety)	Wild-Caught	Alaskan
Spot Prawns	Wild-caught	British Columbia

Seafood Watch List, Other Best Choices (as of October 2009)

Fish	Growing Method	Source
Arctic Char	Farmed	Anywhere
Bay Scallops	Farmed	Anywhere
Crayfish	Farmed	USA
Dungeness Crab	Wild-caught	NW USA – Washington, California, Oregon
Longfin Squid	Wild-caught	USA Atlantic Waters
Pacific Cod	Longline-caught	Alaska

Additional Resources:

-Download printable pocket guides (all .pdf) for each US region: Hawaii, West Coast, SW, Central, SE & the NE
-Download Seafood Watch for your iPhone, free app (iTunes store direct link)

Sources:

• Seafood Watch Super Green List Release (2009-10-01)

Revisions

Version 1.0 of this chart was released on 2009-11-17. All revisions will be noted here.