Fortunately, when it comes to fish, there’s a simple answer that will help spur the economy and lead to more sustainable dining. It’ll be better for your health, too. Put down your seafood wallet card for a minute and pay attention. Here it comes, in two words. Ready? BUY AMERICAN.
he simple fact is, despite the seemingly endless barrage of doom-and-gloom stories about the future of fisheries, the United States leads the world in ending overfishing and managing our resource sustainably. This year, a regulation took effect that will ensure every fish sold by a U.S. commercial fisherman is managed with scientifically justified catch limits. In layman’s terms, this means overfishing is now illegal.
Despite these great strides in sustainability, though, the message isn’t getting through to consumers. According to new numbers released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, in 2010 we imported more than 5.5 billion pounds of seafood—86 percent of what we consumed. That’s an increase of 4 percent from 2009.
Read the complete opinion piece from The Center for American Progress