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FishWise

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 @ 4:23 PM

What is FishWise?

FishWise is a non-profit, science based, sustainable seafood labeling program. It gives our guests the necessary tools for making informed choices based on their own values.

Look for the FishWise labels in our Seafood case. The labels will include:

• Species name
• The origin of the seafood
• A sustainability ranking
• What do the colors mean?
  • Green means the seafood is sustainable.
    • What does sustainable mean?
      • Seafood such as fish or shellfish is considered sustainable if it is not over-fished and is caught or farmed in ways that are not damaging to the environment.
  • Yellow means the fish is not fully sustainable.
    
    • The population may be healthy, but concerns with the catch method or its effects on the environment may exist.
  • Red stands for unsustainable which means the seafood is over-fished and/or its farming or catch method is damaging to the environment.
• The catch method
  • The catch method displayed on the FishWise labels shows how that seafood product was caught or farmed. Fish are caught in many different ways. Some methods are better than others. In many cases the catch method can be determine how sustainable a fish is.
  • Two catch methods to watch out for
    • Bycatch - Unintentionally caught animals such as birds, turtles, dolphins and other fish.
    • Habitat Damage - Some types of fishing gear harm the areas in which fish live.

All our Seafood specialists behind the counter are educated and available answer any of your questions.

Why does Nugget use the FishWise program?

The world’s fisheries are declining. Unsustainable fishing is endangering other animals like dolphins and sea turtles. The lives of people globally are affected, especially fishermen. And most importantly we use FISHWISE to provide our guests with knowledge so they can make their purchases based on their personal values.