WWF introduces seafood guide for fish lovers

In a world increasingly aware of sustainable consumption, one should select seafood not only based on health concerns but is also whether the source overfished, conservationists said.

In an effort to create sustainable seafood supply, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) launched its Seafood Guide campaign in Jakarta on Thursday.

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry said that in 2010, 55 percent of Indonesia’s fisheries resources were overexploited.

WWF Indonesia marketing and communication director Devy Suradji said that the “Choose Your Seafood Right” campaign called on consumers to ask fishmongers where and how the fishes were caught before purchasing them.

“For example, groupers should weigh more 600 grams to ensure they are not juveniles. Consumers should also inspect the appearance of the fish. If the lips are broken, it means the fishermen used handlines so the fish is ‘safe’ to consume. If the fishermen uses potassium, the fish’s body will be slimy. Consumers should avoid such fishes,” she said.

The WWF published a three color coded table with red for fishes to avoid, yellow for fishes that could be considered for consumption and green for those safe for consumption. It will also ask people to sign a petition to push the government to draft regulations on environmentally friendly fishing practices.

“Apart from Jakarta, we have rolled out the campaign in Manado, North Sulawesi, and will head to Makassar, South Sulawesi. We aim to get 500,000 people to sign the petition,” Devy said.

She added that the campaign was also being rolled out in other countries with individual focuses. Devy said that in Hong Kong, for example,the campaign was focused on reducing the consumption of shark’s fin soup, a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.

“The lists changes according to the situation. A few years ago pomfret was not on the list. This year, both the black pomfret and silver pomfret are included,” Devy said.

She said the WWF was working with industries, including supermarket chain Ranch Market and fish exporters.

Ranch Market’s Flora Chrisantie said her company was working with the WWF to create a market for sustainable seafood products. She said that unlike organic food, sales of sustainable seafood products were low.

Flora said the best-selling sustainable seafood products at Ranch Market were snapper, grouper, tuna and shrimp.

All kinds of wild-catch shrimps are in the red category, the WWF says. Aquaculture shrimps are classified under yellow and green.

Gunawan from fish exporting company PT Artamina Tama said the demand for sustainable seafood products had increased by 50 percent in the last couple of years. He says his firm exported sustainable seafood products to the US, Japan and Russia, among other countries.

In 2009, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry said, national fish consumption was 30 kilograms per capita per year, while in Malaysia it was 55.4 kilograms per capita per year. Japan’s consumption level was 60 kilograms per person per year.

To view the seafood guide, go to www.wwf.or.id/seafoodguide