I’m not sure what the allure is about raw fish, but sushi is one of the few foods that I get pretty obsessive about. I’ll go through phases where I want it at least once a week.
As long as you don’t go too heavy on the white rice and soy sauce, hefty sources of refined carbs and sodium respectively, sushi is a great choice for lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids.
But there are also environmental concerns to consider. Our oceans are being over fished, and in turn, depleted of certain species.
The folks over at Health Castle have a round up of seven sushi items, and what is greenlit as a healthy safe choice, for you and the environment. It may be a lot to digest, but even a few changes is a start:
1. Hon Maguro (bluefin tuna), Maguro (yellowfin or bigeye tuna), or Toro (tuna belly):
Listed as a species to avoid. Bluefin tuna is severely overfished and contains high levels of mercury, while yellowfin tuna is caught in a way that harms other ocean life. Instead, request local albacore tuna (Shiro Maguro) caught in Hawaii or British Columbia.
2. Sake (salmon):
The guide suggests avoiding farmed salmon (most of which is Atlantic salmon). Farmed salmon contains high levels of PCBs and dioxins, and salmon farmers may use pesticides or antibiotics to control disease outbreaks. For your sushi, ask for wild-caught salmon from Alaska.
3. Hamachi (yellowtail):
Listed as a species to avoid. Most yellowtail on the U.S. market comes from fish farms in Japan, where there are serious concerns about diseases and pollution.
4. Unagi (freshwater eels):
Listed as a species to avoid. Instead of raising the eels from eggs, eel farms (which have problems with diseases and pollution) catch young eels from the wild, a practice that threatens vulnerable wild populations. In addition, eels are carnivores, so a farmed eel will consume up to twice its own weight in wild-caught fish, thereby putting further pressure on wild fish supply.
5. Ebi (shrimp or prawn):
Most shrimp on the U.S. market is imported from overseas, where regulations are usually slack or not enforced. Fisheries have large amounts of bycatch that are wasted, and shrimp farms abroad have destroyed many ecologically vulnerable coastal areas. At the sushi bar, choose spot prawns from British Columbia (often called Amaebi), pink prawn from Oregon, or shrimp farmed in the U.S.
6. Ikura (salmon roe):
Choose only roe from wild-caught salmon from Alaska and avoid roe from farmed salmon.
7. Uni (sea urchin):
Avoid uni harvested from Maine, where the stocks are low and the harvesting process can harm the ocean floor. Instead, look for uni harvested from Canada, where populations are fairly healthy and the harvest is done mostly by hand.
