Ask the Expert
In this new column, SASHA CONLAN, founder of Sasha’s Fine Foods, answers questions on ingredients, provenance, sustainability and more.
Is wild-caught fish better than sustainably farmed fish?
Whether you choose to buy wildcaught or farmed fish, it’s got to be sustainably produced. Therein lies the most important differentiator.
I once received a call from a customer, a lovely guy who had heard great things about some of our fish varieties but was bothered that it was farmed and not wild-caught. We had a long, insightful conversation, and I explained my reasons for stocking sustainably farmed fish. By the end of the call, he totally got it and happily placed his order. His parting words were, “I just never understood...”
In order to make better choices when buying seafood products, it’s important to have an understanding of all the facts – and an informed understanding of why sustainable fish farms must be embraced. It’s time to debunk the jaded myth that sustainably farmed fish are just not as good, natural or desirable as wild-caught fish.
The explanation for why we’ve resorted to fish farming is simple but grim. According to the United Nations, we’ve already fished 90 percent of the ocean’s large predatory fish like tuna and salmon. And, over 70 percent of the world’s fisheries are considered significantly depleted.
Demand is met with large-scale fishing techniques like bottom trawling and supertrawling – dragging massive, weighted nets across the sea floor, which indiscriminately scoop up both the intended target fish as well as coral, juvenile fish species and other marine life vital to the marine ecosystem – all of which is discarded as “by-catch”. Marine life caught as by-catch can comprise up to 90 percent of a net’s total catch and is thrown back into the ocean, dead or alive. This is an example of non-sustainable wild-caught fishing.
So, I encourage you to try to buy certified sustainable fish, whether it’s farmed or wildcaught. Don’t we owe it to our planet to take what we know and exercise good judgement? By embracing sustainable, farmed fish and other seafood, we become part of the solution and not the problem.
To buy and learn more about sustainable fish, visit sashasfinefoods.com.