The current warm temperature makes me crave simply prepared light foods. One example is fish like sea bream that is quickly prepared on a char grill, or sea bass or snapper, both of which are and ideal dishes for lunch or dinner. These types of fish are offered on many restaurant menus since they are universally liked. The downside is that these fish are on the non-sustainable “avoid” list – meaning if we keep eating them like we do currently they won’t be available at all in a few years.
Tinned tuna just
became en vogue again
Lately I have been opting for white, chunky tinned pole or
troll caught tuna. There is no seasonality to canned fish, which makes it an ideal
on-hand item to have in your kitchen cupboard.
Sustainable and
non-sustainable fishing methods
Greenpeace has been a strong advocate for sustainably fished
tuna. The following two are the most common sustainable practices for catching
tuna:
Troll-caught: fish is caught by single line bait or a rubber jig that is most commonly a squid look-alike. A vessel slowly hauls these fishing lines in the ocean. Tuna hooked like this is sustainable because it does not catch other fish as a by-product.
Pole-caught: fishermen throw bait, such as sardines, along side a fishing boat, into the water. The tuna comes to the surface and gets caught with poles. Tuna caught this way tends to be smaller in size. Again the tuna gets caught one by one so this is a sustainable fishing method.
Common fishing methods that are not sustainable are:
Longline: one long line with many side-branches is kept afloat with buoys. The negative side effect is the bycatch. Sea turtles and many other endangered sea life and unwanted marine animals get caught along with the targeted fish.
Purse Seine: a school of tuna is encircled by a net and then drawn tight at the bottom, similar to a purse, then the net gets hoisted on board a fishing vessel. Purse seine method fishing has significant bycatch, which is not sustainable. This method is known for harming dolphin among other marine life.
Sustainable Tuna Salad, Hold the Mayo
(recipe yields 2 portions tuna salad)
1 stalk celery
1 can tuna – I prefer no salt, no oil, white-large chunks, line, troll or pole caught
2 tablespoons capers
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 lemon, juiced
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper grindings from a mill
Optional additional ingredients:
2 boiled eggs, chopped
Red, orange or green peppers, cored and sliced
¼ cup chopped pickled onions
1 apple such as Granny Smith, cored and cut into 1/8-dice
- Rinse celery with water and cut in half, lengthwise. Chop celery across into 1/8-inch cubes.
- Rinse the can of tuna with water and soap. Open can and press the lid onto the tuna. Turn can of tuna upside down and press excess juice out of the tuna.
- In a bowl combine tuna, celery and all other ingredients.
- With a table fork mix ingredients.
- Adjust seasoning with black pepper and salt.
