home - blogs - thanksgiving without sushi

Thanksgiving Without Sushi

It's true. Seafood may be gone by 2048. And I've been flippin' freakin' out since I heard the news.

As a vegetarian in the 90s, seafood was the one "meat" I occasionally cheated with. The Japanese side of my family always brings over sashimi for the holidays, so I can't remember a Thanksgiving at home without spicy raw tuna with loads of wasabi, right next to the cranberry sauce and stuffing.

To tell the truth, it's rare that I buy fish to cook at home, but next family get-together I'm arriving armed with pocket seafood selectors in an attempt to nudge my extended family members in an eco-friendlier direction. Fingers crossed I've been eating anything but bluefin all these years...

-Toshio...off to contemplate a Thanksgiving without karaino-maki... 

Posted by: tmeronek on 01/16/2008
related tip
17 Comments 
Email Permalink
Bookmark and Share
Email Send to a Friend
Dave  on January 16, 2008 at 06:46 AM 1
Hey I know a great way to save the sea critters... don't eat them at all! :)
Kim  on January 16, 2008 at 08:18 AM 2
2 days in a row now when I go to vote on the tip of the day, it simply takes me to a site to sign up to get the tip of the day. :-(
Jess  on January 16, 2008 at 09:37 AM 3
The Audubon Society also has a pocket seafood guide, which I use when I go out to restaurants or buy fish at the grocery store. http://seafood.audubon.org/
Cathy  on January 16, 2008 at 11:39 AM 4
The Monterey Bay Aquarium site also has a link for a web-enabled mobile phone. I have it saved as a favorite and whip it out to the amazement (and sometimes chagrin) of fellow diners.
Dottie  on January 16, 2008 at 11:47 AM 5
I second the suggestion of Monterey Bay Aquarium's list. I carry a card in my wallet and check online. The cell phone bit is out of my realm (I have one, just not all the frills and I don't use it often). You can also print out a wallet list compiled by Co op America from info from Monterey, EWG and other excellent sources, here: http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/livinggreen/safeseafood.cfm
Linda  on January 16, 2008 at 11:49 AM 6
Thank you Melissa and Dave for getting here before me. All I can say is that tip made my stomach churn. Why would Ideal Bite or any buzzword "green" publication encourage people to eat fish or any other animal? Leave the ecosystem as it is and it will do just fine. Go vegan already! Or at least cut back on your animal consumption! That would help a LOT.
Rachel  on January 16, 2008 at 01:43 PM 7
Thanks to the Biters who suggested visiting the Seafood Watch (Monterey Bay Aquarium) site, and others. If you are a Chicago-based Biter or live in the Midwest, you'll want to download the wallet card provided by Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. Shedd's Right Bite card is produced in partnership with Monterey Bay Aquarium and is specifically designed with middle-America's seafood market in mind. (Right Biters' inside scoop: Check Shedd's site in early February for an updated Right Bite card featuring many exciting additions AND lots of juicy tidbits about local restaurants, seafood purveyors and culinary schools that are leading Chicago's burgeoning sustainable seafood movement.) http://www.sheddaquarium.org/pdf/cons_rightbite_seafood_card.pdf
Jess  on January 16, 2008 at 01:59 PM 8
There are a lot of good reasons to go vegan (ethical, environmental, etc.). But it's not really practical to preach veganism and expect people to stop eating meat. It's idealistic, and the righteous indignation turns people off. Not to digress, though... That said, taking small steps can make a huge difference, such as buying seafood that doesn't contribute to overfishing and pollution. In America - the land of the overprocessed, obese, and cancerous - these changes can and do make a difference.
Ramsey  on January 16, 2008 at 09:13 PM 9
For Canadian folks, we have our own pocket seafood guide. It's on a great searchable site too: http://www.seachoice.org/ More info on sustainable seafood in general, with great links, at the Ecology Action Centre website (an NGO based out of Halifax, Canada): http://www.ecologyaction.ca/marine_issues/mic_background.shtm
Max  on January 17, 2008 at 02:50 PM 10
I love that the Monterey Bay Aquarium are regional too. I can take them with me when I travel and be confident that I am ordering seafood that is abundant regionally. For the times that I just put some cash in my pocket and jump on my bike to head to local grocery store for fish, I am glad that my store works with Fish Wise (www.sustainablefishery.org) Fish Wise's system has the fish in the case labeled - no fumbling on a phone or in my wallet looking for the card. And it is great for folks who don't know to carry a card or don't read Ideal Bite! Ask your local grocery store to contact Fish Wise and get the labeling on site going.
12next ›last »

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <font> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <p> <br> <img>

More information about formatting options