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| # Low-impact seafood | This topic is part of [[gt:food|Food & drink]]. |
| | ====== Low-impact seafood ====== |
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| | ===== What is low-impact seafood? ===== |
| ## What is low-impact seafood? | |
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| First, what we mean by seafood is fish, cephalopods (squid, octopus), decapods (crabs, lobsters, prawns), plus shellfish like oysters and mussels. In this intro we're talking more about buying seafood, but we cover [fishing](/fish/fishing) and [coastal foraging](/coas/coastal_foraging) elsewhere. Currently, around half the seafood the world eats is caught, and about half is from aquaculture (farming). | First, what we mean by seafood is fish, cephalopods (squid, octopus), decapods (crabs, lobsters, prawns), plus shellfish like oysters and mussels. In this intro we're talking more about buying seafood, but we cover [fishing](/fish/fishing) and [coastal foraging](/coas/coastal_foraging) elsewhere. Currently, around half the seafood the world eats is caught, and about half is from aquaculture (farming). |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| There's a viable small-scale, sustainable fishing industry based on small 'day boats' around the coast of the UK. | _There's a viable small-scale, sustainable fishing industry based on small 'day boats' around the coast of the UK._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Mussels can be harvested from the wild or farmed. They're possibly the most sustainable seafood you can get - they don't need feeding; mussel farms attract and provide homes for other marine life; and they sequester carbon in their shells. | _Mussels can be harvested from the wild or farmed. They're possibly the most sustainable seafood you can get - they don't need feeding; mussel farms attract and provide homes for other marine life; and they sequester carbon in their shells._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Check the [**Good Fish Guide**](https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/) for the sustainability of fish species. They've collated all the variables to provide an easy-to-understand traffic light system. | _Check the **[Good Fish Guide](https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/)** for the sustainability of fish species. They've collated all the variables to provide an easy-to-understand traffic light system._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| _[**Sole of Discretion**](https://soleofdiscretion.co.uk/), a co-op of fishers in Plymouth; you can order fresh fish direct from the small boats, with the name of the person who caught your fish, and the method used._ | _**[Sole of Discretion](https://soleofdiscretion.co.uk/)**, a co-op of fishers in Plymouth; you can order fresh fish direct from the small boats, with the name of the person who caught your fish, and the method used._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
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| | ===== What are the benefits of low-impact seafood? ===== |
| ## What are the benefits of low-impact seafood? | |
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| We've seen that low-impact fishing and aquaculture can provide food without damaging marine ecosystems, but it can also benefit coastal communities - socially and economically. This depends a lot on scale. Small, family fishing boats provide autonomous jobs, preserve heritage and help build interesting, vibrant communities, from which profits aren't extracted by giant businesses to pay shareholders elsewhere. The small boats also catch lots of different species that are non-quota, meaning no rules on how many can be caught, so there's less waste. On the whole, they tend to use low-impact methods - hand lines and set nets with buoys and weights (rather than dragging trawl nets across the sea be), and pots to catch crabs and lobsters etc. | We've seen that low-impact fishing and aquaculture can provide food without damaging marine ecosystems, but it can also benefit coastal communities - socially and economically. This depends a lot on scale. Small, family fishing boats provide autonomous jobs, preserve heritage and help build interesting, vibrant communities, from which profits aren't extracted by giant businesses to pay shareholders elsewhere. The small boats also catch lots of different species that are non-quota, meaning no rules on how many can be caught, so there's less waste. On the whole, they tend to use low-impact methods - hand lines and set nets with buoys and weights (rather than dragging trawl nets across the sea be), and pots to catch crabs and lobsters etc. |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Mackerel are plentiful, breed quickly and easily, they're very good for you, and you can buy them or catch them yourself if you live near the sea. | _Mackerel are plentiful, breed quickly and easily, they're very good for you, and you can buy them or catch them yourself if you live near the sea._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Brill, delivered fresh from a small fishing boat, roasted with spuds, mushrooms, onions, garlic and chilli. See [here](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/low-impact-city-7-experience-local-fishbox-community-supported-fish-scheme/) for more of our fishy adventures (Dave of Lowimpact). This fish was from Faircatch, which is sadly no longer operating. We switched to [**Sole of Discretion**](https://soleofdiscretion.co.uk/) instead. | _Brill, delivered fresh from a small fishing boat, roasted with spuds, mushrooms, onions, garlic and chilli. See [here](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/low-impact-city-7-experience-local-fishbox-community-supported-fish-scheme/) for more of our fishy adventures (Dave of Lowimpact). This fish was from Faircatch, which is sadly no longer operating. We switched to **[Sole of Discretion](https://soleofdiscretion.co.uk/)** instead._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
| </WRAP> | </WRAP> |
| | ===== What can I do? ===== |
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| ## What can I do? | |
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| The Marine Conservation Society's [Good Fish Guide](https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/) is a great first port of call. It takes into consideration all aspects of fishing and farming, including health of fish stock, fishing methods, potential by-catch etc. It takes complicated scientific information and boils it down to an easy-to-use traffic light system. If you're buying a particular fish in a fishmongers or a restaurant, it will tell you whether it's a good choice in terms of sustainability. | The Marine Conservation Society's [Good Fish Guide](https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/) is a great first port of call. It takes into consideration all aspects of fishing and farming, including health of fish stock, fishing methods, potential by-catch etc. It takes complicated scientific information and boils it down to an easy-to-use traffic light system. If you're buying a particular fish in a fishmongers or a restaurant, it will tell you whether it's a good choice in terms of sustainability. |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Buying from small fishing boats can help keep the economies of coastal villages alive. | _Buying from small fishing boats can help keep the economies of coastal villages alive._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| The European eel is now as endangered as the Bengal tiger, and shouldn't really be on menus at all. Numbers have fallen by 95% since the 1980s, but we're not sure why. They breed in the Sargasso Sea, then the young have to swim across the Atlantic to get to Europe to breed. If this wasn't difficult enough, they now have to cope with overfishing, pesticides, weirs and the Gulf Stream slowing down. | _The European eel is now as endangered as the Bengal tiger, and shouldn't really be on menus at all. Numbers have fallen by 95% since the 1980s, but we're not sure why. They breed in the Sargasso Sea, then the young have to swim across the Atlantic to get to Europe to breed. If this wasn't difficult enough, they now have to cope with overfishing, pesticides, weirs and the Gulf Stream slowing down._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Langoustines look like shrimps that are trying hard to be lobsters, and can be caught sustainably in pots or 'creels' (Melissa Highton, [**CC by SA 4.0**](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)); however, they can also be called 'scampi', that are caught by large-scale trawlers that scour the sea bed - best avoided. | _Langoustines look like shrimps that are trying hard to be lobsters, and can be caught sustainably in pots or 'creels' (Melissa Highton, [CC by SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)); however, they can also be called 'scampi', that are caught by large-scale trawlers that scour the sea bed - best avoided._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| _Explanation of the [**MSC / ASC Chain of Custody certification**](https://www.msc.org/standards-and-certification/chain-of-custody-standard), ensuring sustainability every step of the way from ocean to shop / chip shop / restaurant._ | _Explanation of the **[MSC / ASC Chain of Custody certification](https://www.msc.org/standards-and-certification/chain-of-custody-standard)**, ensuring sustainability every step of the way from ocean to shop / chip shop / restaurant._ |
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| </caption> | </caption> |
| </WRAP> | </WRAP> |
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| The most sustainable way to obtain seafood is almost definitely to catch it yourself (see [here](/coas/coastal_foraging) and [here](/fish/fishing)); and if you're concerned with the economic and social benefits to communities of small-scale fishing, you can support them by purchasing from distributors that we'll highlight [here](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/directory/categories/seafood-products-services). You could even try to join them - there's [training](https://www.seafish.org/safety-and-training/seagoing-training/offshore-approved-training-providers/) and sometimes [grants](https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/topics/fisheries-grants-and-funding/fisheries-grants) available. You're not going to get rich with a small fishing boat - it's more about preferring an outdoor lifestyle close to the sea. | The most sustainable way to obtain seafood is almost definitely to catch it yourself (see [here](/coas/coastal_foraging) and [here](/fish/fishing)); and if you're concerned with the economic and social benefits to communities of small-scale fishing, you can support them by purchasing from distributors. You could even try to join them - there's [training](https://www.seafish.org/safety-and-training/seagoing-training/offshore-approved-training-providers/) and sometimes [grants](https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/topics/fisheries-grants-and-funding/fisheries-grants) available. You're not going to get rich with a small fishing boat - it's more about preferring an outdoor lifestyle close to the sea. |
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| | ===== Forum ===== |
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| | This topic belongs to the section [[gt:food|Food & drink]]. You can ask questions or add information on the corresponding [Forum section](https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/food). |
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| | ===== Further resources ===== |
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| | - [Good Fish Guide](https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/) - ratings to discover whether your seafood choices are affecting the environment |
| | - [Marine Conservation Society](https://www.mcsuk.org/) |
| | - [Sole of Discretion](https://soleofdiscretion.co.uk/) - co-op of fishers in Plymouth; you can order fresh fish direct |
| | - [Marine Stewardship Society](https://www.msc.org/uk) |
| | - [Aquaculture Stewardship Council](https://asc-aqua.org/) |
| | - [Local Catch Network](https://localcatch.org/) - community supported fisheries and direct seafood marketing (US) |
| | - [The value of small-scale fishing](https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-03-19/the-value-of-small-scale-fishing/) |
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| ## Further resources | ===== Related topics ===== |
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| | - [Coastal foraging](coas:coastal_foraging) |
| | - [Fishing](fish:fishing) |
| | - [Food smoking](fosm:food_smoking) |
| | - [Low-impact food & drink](lifo:food) |
| | - [Crayfish](cray:crayfish) |
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| ## Specialists | ===== Specialist curators of this topic ===== |
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