We all know sustainable fishing is important, but what does it mean? Michael Lucas, President of North Coast Fisheries, shared his expertise to help demystify the topic.   

One major key to sustainable fishing is ensuring a sustainable stock of fish. This means when harvesting a certain species of fish, the harvest falls into one of three categories:

Maintaining fish stock: The amount of harvesting allows the volume of fish to remain constant.

Rebuilding fish stock: The fish population is below initial stock data, but growing faster than the rate of harvest.

Above fish stock: The volume of fish is above initial measurements and growing faster than the rate of harvest.

Due to the various mandates, all west coast fisheries must be sustainable, Michael said. Other areas of the world are not under the same management and may struggle with sustainable fishing. Many species on the east coast, for example, are in the highly overfished status. On the west coast, every year more and more species come off the overfished list and achieve sustainable status.

North Coast Fishery is MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified, and uses Trace Register so buyers can trace their fish from the source. The fishery harvests more than 100 species of seafood, including California King salmon and Dungeness crab, which if properly managed, are two of the most sustainable types of seafood. Halibut is another very sustainable option.

Want to know if your favorite fish is sustainable? When fishing for your next fillet in the meat department, look for the FishWise ranking that rates different species as green (sustainable), yellow (somewhat sustainable) or red (unsustainable). If a fish hasn’t been ranked by FishWise, it will show up as red.

For more information, visit our Meat & Seafood page, or drop by the store and talk to one of our friendly and experienced butchers!