Don't Expect to Eat Chilean Sea Bass at the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium

With populations of some species at risk of collapsing because of over-fishing, the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk has decided it will stop serving fish on the Seafood Watch list of fish to avoid. From the Stamford Advocate:

According to the Seafood Watch "Northeast Seafood Guide 2006," the worst choices include Chilean seabass, Atlantic cod, imported king crab, Mid-Atlantic sea scallops, Atlantic sole and flounder, Atlantic halibut, monkfish, farmed and Atlantic salmon, sharks and skates, swordfish and bluefin tuna.

If the guide's "avoid" list seems to leave little left to eat, consider some of the "best" seafood choices: farmed arctic char, catfish, oysters, mussels, tilapia, rainbow trout and striped bass; wild Alaska salmon and pollock, soft-shell clams and steamers; and spiny U.S. lobsters, Pacific halibut, Atlantic herring and sardines and Canada-caught dungeness and snow crabs.

Seafood Watch also offers a number of "good alternatives," including black sea bass; Atlantic surf and hard clams; Alaska-caught king crabs and U.S.-caught snow crabs; hook-caught haddock, albacore and big-eye tuna, Maine lobster, mahi mahi and Northeastern and Canadian sea scallops.