Seafood lovers turned out in record numbers for the Colonial Park Rotary Club’s Crab Fest recently. Diners take it for granted that the seafood festivals, long a summer tradition, will be here next year. Just as they expect that as long as there is summer and a craving for seafood, there will be crab fests. But will there?
Overfishing, indiscriminate fishing and pollution are depleting seafood faster than it can reproduce. Conservationists hope to reverse that trend, and many seafood lovers have joined the sustainability movement.
They are shoppers who consult pocket-sized "Seafood Watch" guides from the Monterey Bay Aquarium as they order from restaurant menus. They buy only supermarket seafood with little blue stickers on the packages, a sign that the fish is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.