By choosing fish from healthy, responsibly-managed sources, caught using methods that minimize damage to the marine environment and other species, you can help drive the market for sustainable seafood.

The web sites listed below provide information that helps direct consumers.

Knowing for sure what seafood can be eaten so that impact on the marine environment is minimized sometimes takes a little individual research, because fishing means and the status of fish stocks may vary locally.

A basic rule would be to avoid consuming large Mediterranean predators such as swordfish, tuna and sharks (often disguised as fish fillet under various market names). Do not buy fish below adult (reproductive) size. Also refrain from consuming fish caught with methods that may involve detrimental fishing methods or ecosystem damage.

Ask your fishmonger or the supermarket where and how the fish you buy was caught, or look at labelling information.

Consuming farmed fish is not necessarily a way of reducing impact, because farmed fish is commonly fed with wild-caught fish. Much energy and biomass are lost in the process.

Additional information

Please note that the sites below do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Cetacean Alliance, and are only meant to highlight the complexity of this topic as well as guide consumers in their choices. Information that does not refer specifically to the Mediterranean Sea should be taken as merely indicative.

IncoFish
An extensive web-based database that includes information on responsible fish eating.

International Seafood Guide
This guide, intended for mobile phones, combines information from a large number of seafood guides from around the world, and offers area-specific information on what to eat and not eat.

Eco-Friendly Seafood selector
This seafood selector by Environmental Defense helps you choose fish that are good for you and the ocean. It includes a printable pocket guide.

FishOnline
This U.K. web site can help you identify which fish are from well managed sources and/or caught using methods that minimise damage to marine wildlife and habitats.

Blue Ocean Institute Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood
A guide to sustainable seafood for consumers based in the U.S. and Canada.

Seafood Watch
A program of U.S. Monterey Bay Aquarium designed to raise consumer awareness about the importance of buying seafood from sustainable sources. The site recommends which seafood to buy or avoid, helping consumers to become advocates for environmentally friendly seafood.

Sourcing Seafood - Seafood Choices Alliance
A buyer's guide for procuring ocean-friendly fish and shellfish produced by an international U.S.-based association for the issue of ocean-friendly seafood.

Oceans Alive
A part of the Environmental Defense 'Oceans' program, the Oceans Alive campaign is concerned with fishery management in U.S. seas.

FairFish
A web site (in German) concerned with animal welfare in fisheries, fair trade and sustanability.

Most of the sites above offer downloadable pocket guides to assist you in your choices, e.g the MCS Pocket Good Fish Guide.