Monday, May 15, 2006

Consumers helping conserve fish

Consumer power is helping to conserve fish, according to a new report from the Marine Stewardship Council.

Consumers can help by buying fish caught with sustainable fishing methods, and the MSC logo (above left) is one way to identify sustainably-caught fish.

There is some controversy over the questions "what is sustainability?" and "who decides which fish are caught sustainably?" In response, the MSC commissioned the study released today, which examined the environmental benefits of the MSC sustainable fishery certification program.

The MSC is an independent organization that certifies fish as sustainably-caught, according to a set of principles & criteria, and based on the evaluation of independent auditors who assess fisheries relative to the criteria.

Note that some big seafood retailers are catching the wave and switching to sustainbly-caught fish, so now is a good time for consumers to make their preferences known.

Know where your fish come from, and who caught them!

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