SEAFOOD WATCH

The mission of Seafood Watch is to empower consumers and businesses to make the right choices in food selection to ensure healthy oceans. Established by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the program raises awareness about the importance of purchasing seafood from sustainable sources.

Restaurants who agree to participate in the program pledge to serve only items from the Seafood Watch "Best Choices" and "Good Alternatives" list of seafood suggestions, which for environmentally sound reasons are good food choices. Restaurants pledge not to serve seafood categorized under "Avoid," because those products lead to overfishing, pollution and potential negative impacts on the ocean habitat.

Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium website to download a pocket guide of Seafood Watch choices. You can also download the Seafood Watch iPhone application, which was named "Best Smart Phone App" by Treehugger. Click here for a list of Monterey County restaurants that participate in Seafood Watch.