Ay, can eat or not?
March 18th, 2010There’s a certain time each year when chefs and foodies get all excited about a little red book. I, on the other hand, am thrilled about the recent introduction of a NEW and UBER COOL food guide. It was introduced in Hong Kong in 2007, and it’s taken a while, but finally, we have a Singapore-edition. Introducing…….
The Singapore Seafood Guide!
Excerpts taken from the official WWF Singapore Seafood Guide Site:
Singapore is one of the biggest seafood consumers in Asia-Pacific with an average of 100,000 tonnes of seafood consumed each year. Therefore Singapore has an important role to play in the conservation and sustainability of marine resources. In an opinon poll commissioned by WWF 80% of those Singaporeans asked said they would either stop eating seafood or reduce the amount of seafood they ate if they were made aware it was being unsustainably harvested. WWF Singapore has come up with the Singapore Seafood guide to give consumers and business the information they need to make sustainable seafood choices – to have the facts about where the fish on your plate comes from.
The guide represents a starting point for WWF to work alongside Singaporeans to help preserve our fish stocks for the future.
The WWF Singapore Seafood Guide is one element of the broad and far reaching marine conservation work of the WWF network which promotes sustainable seafood by working along the entire ‘change of custody’ – from the ocean to the plate. As well as consumers WWF Singapore will be working alongside retailers, hotels, restaurants and traders to raise awareness of sustainable seafood – seafood that is farmed and fished responsibly!
Can eat or not? Here’s how the guide works:
The guide uses an internationally agreed method to assess seafood sustainability to help you make the best seafood choices. Using a simple traffic light system to colour code seafood, it groups some of the most popular seafood species in Singapore into 3 categories:
GREEN –Recommended a.k.a “Can eat lah!”
YELLOW – Think Twice a.k.a. “Maybe can eat, but not so often lor”
RED –Avoid Eating a.k.a “Better don’t eat ah!”
Click on the GREEN, YELLOW and RED links above to see the recommended and not-recommended lists and pictures of seafood.
Notice Mud Crab has the green light. So no problem for Singapore Chilli Crab lovers!
As mentioned, there is also a Hong Kong Seafood Guide. Read more about it here.
Why cannot eat ah?
It is important to know where our seafood comes from, this is because fisheries are managed differently in different parts of the world – some sustainably, some not. It is also important because the majority of seafood in Singapore is imported and most of it comes from a unique and fragile marine ecosystem on our doorstep known as the Coral Triangle. The Coral Triangle has a huge importance commercially and scientifically as well as representing livelihoods for millions of people. It is also a place of great natural beauty. But right now to satisfy our demand for seafood we are taking fish out of the ocean faster than they can be replenished and if this continues it will lead to the collapse of our fish stocks.
People who know me know my stand against shark’s fin soup. I actually LOVE the stuff. But like most shark’s fin soup lovers, it’s just the flavour of the soup that we enjoy so much, and guess what? Shark’s fin is tasteless! So what we love is actually just superior broth (made from chicken, dried scallop, Chinese wine, etc) + crab meat + some thickening agent. If you used the same broth, and put in slivers of agar-agar or even tunghoon (bean vermicelli) that resembled shark’s fin, you wouldn’t know the difference! Seriously.
Now I won’t go into my whole long lecture about the awful way sharks are “finned” and all that. Here’s the “red” list:
Some of you may have your undies in a twist to see blue-fin tuna on the Red list. So, why cannot eat?!!
Bluefin tuna is better known as a luxurious sushi delicacy than a fish actually on the verge of extinction, due to uncontrolled and indiscriminate exploitation of this migratory mariner including its juveniles. Driven by the fast-growing pursuit of fine-dining globally, all three species of this oceanic giant: southern bluefin tuna (global Southern Ocean), Pacific bluefin tuna (Indo-Pacific Ocean), northern bluefin tuna (Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea) have been largely fished out to satisfy our insatiable taste buds. The rarer they are, the more expensive they become and the closer they are to commercial extinction – which will mean fish will be hard to find for commercial consumption.
It takes about 8 to 14 years for northern and southern bluefin tuna to mature and about 3 to 5 years for Pacific tuna. These fishes reproduce and feed in big groups, which makes them particular vulnerable to fishing pressure.
There is no alternative to bluefin tuna, as is the case for any other species which is unique on earth. Bluefin tuna will soon disappear unless urgent action is taken.
Like that, how?
What you can do – as a hotel or restaurant: As a responsible business in the consumer market, your reputation is at stake. Stop selling or serving bluefin tuna to set a good example for the catering industry. Some players in the industry have taken courageous steps to move their business towards sustainability. Many hotels and restaurants in Hong Kong have already pledged to take these species off their menu., including Four Seasons, JW Marriott, Marco Polo, The Excelsior and The Landmark Mandarin Oriental.
Living in a country and island-city that loves all-things-seafood (especially all-u-can-eat seafood buffets) we should be aware of the environmental cost of our incessant and irresponsible pursuit of fine but rare food.
All images used here are Copyright of WWF Singapore.
Seafoods are very rich in Iodine too.:’:
Hi Jake! Yurp they are … Thanks for reading and please do keep comin back !