Yo,

I don't know the particulars, and there's not any good contact information in the article, but here's what I've got...

An acquaintance of mine gave me a newspaper from PCC Natural Markets, and it had an article in it about a wholesale fish dealer based in New Hampshire called Eco-Fish.

According to the article, Eco-Fish only deals in fish that are caught in what are deemed "sustainable fisheries".

They have a volunteer panel that looks at factors such as population status, level of bycatch, and environmentally friendly harvesting practices.

Most of their suppliers are smaller hook-and-line operations, who reportedly have around 1% bycatch, which seems pretty reasonable compared to the 200% bycatch going on right now in the Columbia River springer tangle net fishery. They also work with three fish farms; catfish from Arkansas, trout from Idaho, and tilapia from Ecuador, all of which on shorebound contained farms that don't use hormones or antibiotics.

Lastly, the article says that Eco-Fish plans to donate 25% of its pretax profits to conservation efforts.

I have to assume that buying fish with the Eco-Fish label would be more expensive, but it seems that if their claims are true, it's probably worth it.

Has anyone else heard of Eco-Fish before? I'm going to do a bit more digging and report back here. Maybe this could be an option to present to seafood managers when we approach them with concerns about the sources of their products.

Fish on...

Todd.

I just eat the fish I catch, but for someone wanting to eat fish who didn't fish, that sounds like a reasonable decision.

Here's what a quick Google search brought up.

Lots of hits, great majority in support of EcoFish, but here are some different views. Do a search yourselves for more viewpoints.

1. National Public Radio-mostly support it, but rely on the owners of EcoFish for information about it.
http://www.NHPR.org/content/fullmonty_view.php/1465/

2. Environmental News Network-totally support it. I think these guys are pretty green.
http://www.enn.com/enn-news-archive/2000/01/01302000/ecofish_9514.asp

3. Center for Consumer Freedom-totally rip it. The CCF is a coalition of restaurant operators who support your right to a "full and varied restaurant menu" and the "right of adults and parents to make your own choices about what to do with your money."
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/article_detail.cfm?ARTICLE_ID=119

EDIT: EcoFish has their own website, too.
http://www.ecofish.com

Anyone else have anymore tidbits?

Fish on...

Todd.

I looked through that info for as long as I could stand it.It unfortunately will have absolutely no effect on the commercial fishing industry .It will make a few more middle men some money and add to the coffers of the backing enviremental orgs.I suppose some trendy restraunts will cash in to.

They list the p cod stocks as being in excelent shape and being fished in an enviro friendly manner.After fishing p-cod I know better,which leads me to believe that they are not really looking to acomplish there goal but use the cover of there goal to make money.

Thanks for the insight, LC.

Looking at what was available, I thought it looked like the three enviro. orgs. that get money from EcoFish were cashing in. I also figured that there's nothing wrong with making money, especially if you're doing it and the byproduct of it is good for the environment.

However, I don't think I'm convinced that that's the way they're doing it. I couldn't really find the standards that they were using to rate the fisheries. Land based farms are a no-brainer, but they only deal with three of them. Hook and line fisheries reduce bycatch and bottom degradation considerably, but that's still no excuse to harvest depressed stocks (not saying this is what they're doing, but I couldn't find enough information that told me just exactly what they are doing).

I guess time will tell...

Fish on...

Todd.