Whole Foods to stop sale of unsustainable seafood (AP)
Whole Foods to stop sale of unsustainable seafood
By Michael Hill | Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Whole Foods Market said Friday that it will stop selling fish caught from depleted waters or through ecologically damaging methods, a move that comes as supermarkets nationwide try to make their seafood selections more sustainable.
Starting Earth Day, April 22, the natural and organic supermarket chain will no longer carry wild-caught seafood that is "red-rated," a color code that indicates it is either overfished or caught in a way that harms other species. The ratings are determined by the Blue Ocean Institute, an advocacy group, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.
Among the seafood disappearing from Whole Foods shelves will be octopus, gray sole, skate, Atlantic halibut and Atlantic cod caught by trawls, which can destroy habitats. The company will stock sustainable replacements like cod caught on lines and halibut from the Pacific.
"In the long term, what we're really looking to do is help reverse trends of overfishing and bi-catch, so that really we can move the industry as a whole toward greater sustainability," said seafood quality standards coordinator Carrie Brownstein. She added that Whole Foods is making the shift a year ahead of its internal deadline.
http://news.yahoo.com/whole-foods-stop-sale-unsustainable-seafood-070616482.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Smaller, abundant, large school fish instead of the large fish. 
Ahhhh... That feels better.than albacore?
If your point is adopting a vegetarian menu, I can go with that. I think the point here is sustainability of what most of us eat. And some stewardship of our role in the food chain, since we have a choice.
I don't have a problem with eating some meat, but the oceans are a sore spot with me. Ocean fish are a unique case, because their food chain is essentially carnivorous. That means that if you fish out a lower trophic level, the ones that it supports can all collapse. Combine that with the difficulty of getting accurate population counts, the migratory nature of the fish and the floating "fish vacuums" the industry uses, and it's a recipe for catastrophe. A catastrophe that us already unfolding out of sight under the waves. The sea itself looks the same as it ever has, and that's a very dangerous thing.
I sincerely didn't mean that as a personal swipe against you, pinto. I know where you're coming from, and I agree that it's "more sustainable" to eat anchovies than tuna in the short run. What is so intensely frustrating is that so few people are thinking ecologically, over sufficiently long time horizons - especially as the noose is already tightening around our necks. Your comment just happened to hit one of my nerves. I'm sorry I didn't say my piece with more grace.
Maybe we can set up a new speculative market in bluefin futures, so that we'll be able to take advantage of the Invisible Hand Job we're giving the rest of the planet.
After all, markets and incentives explain everything . . . 
