I was introduced to sushi sometime in the early 2000’s, probably at the advent of sushi restaurants popping up all over the place. Now sushi restaurants are as ubiquitous as hamburger fast food places.

I fell deeply in love with sushi – I ate every type of roll from the newbie’s shrimp tempura to a sushi connoisseur’s barbeque eel roll.

I embarrassingly craved sushi all of the time and even began to pick up the small sushi platters that became popular in the chain grocery stores. Eating two sushi rolls and a cup of miso soup was so filling, tasty and healthy ~ or so I thought.

I stopped my sushi habit cold turkey when I began to learn about the high levels of contamination in seafood. Furthermore, I was consuming raw seafood from restaurants that most likely were not purchasing low-contamination, eco-friendly fish.

Information is now available that help us choose safer sushi which is awesome news for the green sushi lovers of the world. Seafood Watch®, a program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, has a vision for sustainability which is to “help sustain wild, diverse and healthy ocean ecosystems that will exist long into the future…..by encouraging consumers and businesses to purchase seafood that is fished or farmed in ways that don’t harm the environment. When there is scientific uncertainty, we err on the side of conservation.”

Seafood Watch developed a sushi guide to help consumers and restaurant owners choose the most eco-friendly and least contaminated seafood available. Seafood Watch also provides action items on What You Can Do to help solve these pollution problems:

• Order fish from the Best Choice and Good Alternatives List

• Talk with your Chef about sustainable seafood and slip them the seafood guide

• Spread the Word about Sustainable Seafood – Post a link on Twitter or Facebook

Seafood Watch also provides a fun quiz entitled “Not all sushi is created equal” which tests your Sustainable Sushi Smarts.

I now look forward to going to a good sushi restaurant to devour an Iwana roll dipped in wasabi and soy sauce, salad with ginger dressing and a shot of sake.

Images courtesy of Seafood Watch and library.thinkquest.org

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