Animal Keeper's Association of Africa

Seafood Reconsidered

More and more people are considering seafood as a healthy and alternative natural protein source. In a time when many consumers regard products from conventional commercial land based farms with increasing suspicion, seafood is growing in popularity. Spurred on by the globalisation of markets, seafood has become the most traded commodity in the world. This is driven on further by trend setters in the culinary world, seafood has exploded onto restaurant menus and retail store shelves.

But less widely known or publicised are the conservation issues surrounding seafood species. Many of our seafood species are harvested at unsustainable rates, and in many cases the activity of fishing may cause unacceptable damage to the oceans ecosystem with potential for serious long-term effects.

If we want to continue to enjoy the variety and diversity of seafood that we have become accustomed to for decades to come, we need to start making informed choices now.

There is also the innovative SASSI FishMS service which enables seafood consumers to text the name of a fish to 079-499-8795 to find out whether it is on the red, orange or green list. In addition to the FishMS service, consumers can also visit the official SASSI website and mobi site  to access the SASSI list and further information.