The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, which first issued the consumer cards in 1999, has since distributed 24 million nationwide. (See the clip-and-save newsprint version below.)
It even footnotes fish that may present other concerns, such as mercury contamination. But the point is sustainability - to steer us toward species that are "abundant, well-managed, and caught or farmed in environmentally friendly ways."
The National Marine Fisheries Service proudly notes that 80 percent of more than 250 federally managed fish populations are just fine. Most of what you see in a fish store is federally managed, if - and it's a big if - it's not imported or farmed.
But that also means 20 percent aren't.
And "if you look at fisheries globally," says Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, "they're generally in not good shape."
A warning on fisheries
Scientists have warned that commercial fisheries will collapse within 40 years if we don't change how they are managed. Not that the fish will be extinct, but they'll be so scarce you won't be able to catch them for a living.
Meanwhile, our hunger for seafood is robust. Americans eat upward of 16 pounds a year - a quarter of it shrimp. (A middling "good alternative," says Monterey Bay, as long as they're from the United States, either farmed or wild. All imported shrimp are on the "avoid" list.)
Some other groups even give recipes online. That certainly helps in the case of one of the Environmental Defense Fund's top choices: anchovies. (Try them in a garlicky Putanesca sauce.)
Blue Ocean's FishPhone service - a sustainability 911 - came in handy when I paused to admire pinkish fillets of something called "basa."
I pulled out my cell phone, dialed 30644 and texted "fish," then "basa."
