Get Your Free Sustainable Sushi Guide and Help Save Our Oceans

The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch consumer guide to ocean-friendly sushi makes its debut on October 22, and sushi lovers are invited to join the aquarium in a sushi party as part of a coast-to-coast celebration.

They’re also invited to RSVP for the national sushi party and share their experiences via Facebook

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Sushi lovers who sign up online to become Seafood Watch advocates at www.seafoodwatch.org will receive a tool kit to help them spread the word about the many ways to enjoy sushi without harming ocean habitats.

Kits will be mailed out in time to reach advocates by the week of October 22, said Sheila Bowman, senior outreach manager for Seafood Watch.

Each kit includes printed copies of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s new Seafood Watch Sushi pocket guide, a set of reusable, biodegradable chopsticks and colorful cards to leave behind at a favorite sushi restaurant. The cards can be used to thank chefs who serve sustainable seafood or alert them when they’re using items on the aquarium’s “red list,” which identifies seafood that was caught or farmed in ways that harm the ocean.

“Every sushi restaurant serves some sustainable items,” Bowman said. ”We’ve created the tools so people can find those good choices – and enjoy them!”

The aquarium’s sushi recommendations will be available online beginning October 22 and can be accessed through its website and Seafood Watch Mobile service, www.seafoodwatch.org.

The aquarium is one of three leading ocean conservation organizations that will release color-coded consumer guides for popular sushi items on October 22. Blue Ocean Institute and Environmental Defense Fund will also launch their pocket guides rating sushi selections based on whether they’re prepared using seafood that’s caught or farmed in ways that harm the ocean or pose a health risk to people.

“It’s really very simple,” Bowman said. “If you care about the future of the oceans, you’ll want to use the pocket guides and avoid red-listed sushi.”

The pocket guides incorporate human health recommendations from Environmental Defense Fund, and flags seafood items where concerns exist about levels of mercury or PCBs that may pose a health risk to adults or children. Fisheries researchers from the Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium evaluated the seafood species included on the guides.

The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium (www.montereybayaquarium.org) is to inspire conservation of the oceans.