Sustainability-minded seafood buyers can now access report cards on 149 countries via a single Web site. The Environmental Performance Index, a collaboration of environmental experts at Yale University and Columbia University, ranks the countries on 25 environmental indicators, including natural resources like fisheries.
The index calculated an overall score for each country based on natural resources (including fisheries), environmental health, air pollution, water resources, biodiversity and habitat and climate change. Switzerland’s score of 95.5 (out of 100 total possible points) earned it a No. 1 ranking, while Niger received the lowest score of 39.1. The United States ranked No. 39 with a score of 81.
The index received national media attention in January when it was initially launched, following a 2006 pilot project ranking countries according to environmental metrics. But the fisheries information found on the site is not well known.