Fishing for Answers - Which Fish on your Dish

Casson Trenor's Sustainable Sushi Points Out Eco-Friendly Choices

Feb 9, 2009 Jacqueline Church

Concerns for the conservation of dying species, for dodging mercury, PCBs, can make choosing a good sushi meal tricky. Healthy, sustainable sushi just got easier.

Meeting an expert like Casson Trenor can be intimidating. More correctly, the prospect of it, might be.

After all, he's not even thirty yet and he speaks five languages, has a MA in International Environmental Policy, has traveled the world working on stewardship issues in all five oceans. He's also the sustainable sushi guru for Tataki Sake and Sushi Bar in San Francisco. Oh, and his book, Sustainable Sushi, gets kudos from Mr. Bottomfeeder himself, Taras Grescoe.

Then, you meet Trenor or read his book. Awe-inspiring as the book is, intimidating it is not. Nor is Trenor and this is the magic that saves his work from being preachy. This book takes a huge subject and breaks it down into useable data, arming the reader with a balance of facts and information allowing choices that will have a positive impact.

Sustainable Sushi - Renewing Respect, Defining the Terminology

Trenor's book begins by noting the Japanese custom of beginning each meal with "Itadakimasu" which is taken as "Tuck in" "Bon appetit" or such. Quite literally, it is an expression of gratitude for the life you are about to take by eating the food in front of you. Trenor focuses our attention back to that original meaning. He briefly addresses the larger questions of sustainability and what they mean, reserving economic sustainability and social sustainability for others to discuss more in depth.

A basic definition of sustainability "is about stewarding resources in such a way that they are available in the future."

Health concerns are covered, too. Not only Mercury but PCBs too, have caused alarm, showing food safety issues are greater than once thought with many types of fish.

A Sensible Transition

One of the strengths of the book is the clear, sensible approach it takes and advocates for us to take. For example, he notes that sometimes it will not be feasible to ask a server who is really busy question after question about origins of items. Incremental progress is okay. Maybe sitting at the sushi bar is better so you have direct access to the chef.

Throughout the nearly 40 choices are color coded with a stoplight scheme: Green = Sustainable; Yellow = Use Caution; Red = Unsustainable.

Five choices to avoid:

Farmed Salmon
Eel
Farmed Amberjack (Hamachi)
Asian Shrimp
Bluefin Tuna - it's truly an endangered species at this point.

Choices to add to your rotation:

Wild domestic albacore tuna
Closed-containment farmed arctic char, barramundi, striped bass
Mackerels
Farmed shellfish like mussels, clams, scallops, oysters, geoduck.

The book has a terrific layout, with color coded bars across the top of each page, a glossary, a section on vegetarian sushi alternatives. It wisely is about the same size as say a Zagat's Guide, likely an intentional choice to encourage its adoption as a dining guide.

Each section is broken down with helpful tables and color coded indicators. Countries or origin, how it is fished, and what that means to your choice. Type (farmed or wild), or in the case of the method of catching it being determinative, indication of Wild or Longlined - green, or Open Containment - Red, for example.

Grocery Store Sushi: Option of Last Resort

A few basic issues with grocery store sushi, besides the fact that sushi is not meant to sit in a chilled case (rice getting hard and nori getting soggy) at all:

Most often it contains farmed salmon, longlined tuna and farmed freshwater eel (see list above.)
The clear top PET number 1 plastic though theoretically recyclable - require special operational costs to process so generally speaking no matter how carefully you've sorted your trash this ends up in a landfill or the ocean.
The PS Polystyrene number 6 plastic base of your supermarket sushi - again, while theoretically recyclable, these rarely are and they go to landfills. There's also evidence of chemical transfer if exposed to heat.
Chopsticks - there is a small but growing number of people who bring their own rather than use the "disposable" bamboo and balsa chopsticks. Imagine in one year, 2006 there were 50 Billion pairs produced, used once, thrown away. In Japan people often carry their own chopsticks in boxes with a lid that slides on. There's even a set that is designed for travelers here (the site also has several boxes) with recycled ash (from broken baseball bats) inside a steel end, in a carrying pouch. Really, they are so simple to wash, why not just get any set and keep them in your desk or purse?

To see an example of the graphic design, the content available, in the book, see Trenor's website: Sustainable Sushi.

The copyright of the article Fishing for Answers - Which Fish on your Dish in Gourmet Food is owned by Jacqueline Church. Permission to republish Fishing for Answers - Which Fish on your Dish in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.