Canada’s Seafood Guide

women shopping for seafood

With summer season now well underway, and many people turning to the BBQ and the bounty of fresh seafood, there are some things to keep in mind with seafood to make sure that you enjoy the seafood choices that you make. Listed below are some best choices, some concerns and things to avoid.

Best Choice

Well managed, abundant and caught or farmed in environmentally sustainable ways.

Wild

Clam: razor hand-dug (Canada Atlantic) soft-shell (US Atlantic)

Cod: Pacific- longline, jig, trap ( Alaska)

Crab: Dungeness ( Canada/US Pacific)

Lobster: Spiny (US)

Shrimp/Prawn: Northern trap ( Canada Atlantic)

Tuna: Albacore troll/pole (Canada/US and the Pacific)

Some Concerns:

There are concerns with abundance, management or impacts on habitat or other marine life.

Cod: Pacific trawl (Canada/US Pacific, Alaska)

Crab: Blue (US Atlantic) King (Alaska)

Salmon: Pacific all species ( Canada Pacific)

Sole: Pacific (Canada US/Pacific)

Avoid:

Seafood that is farmed or wild which come with a combination of critical problems. Habitat damage, lethal impacts on other species, critically low populations or poor management make this seafood ones to avoid.

Wild

Halibut: Atlantic trawl (US Atlantic)

Scallops: Sea dredge (Canada Atlantic)

Tuna: Bluefin (Worldwide)

Swordfish: longline (Canada Atlantic, International except US)

For a full listed of all the seafood items on the Canada’s Seafood Guide go to www.seachoice.org