When you're addicted to the planet

Q: I love tuna. Is any of it okay to eat?

A: On a sandwich board of choices, I’ve got to say tuna salad still makes my mouth water. My dad’s classic recipe with olive oil, wine vinegar, diced onion and celery is my all-time fave. Alas, it’s nearly extinct from my lunch roster.

Too many reports of large-fish stocks being gutted by up to 10 per cent in recent decades is enough to make many tuna lovers lose their appetite. The kind of tuna we eat in sushi or pan-seared are in particularly bad trouble. Our hunger for them is voracious, and many species are close to the brink. Not that any governments will admit as much.

Just last month, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (a body of scientists and government reps) went public with calls to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna under the Canada’s Species At Risk Act. It’s a shame the feds are unlikely to follow through, and last week the U.S. declined to make the politically unpopular move of granting the fish endangered status.

But never say never. If we kick up enough of a stink and harass our MPs, the feds may just surprise us. Certainly public opinion is on the right side: a new WWF/Ekos poll found 91 per cent of Canadians feel the fish on our shelves should come from sustainable sources. In honour of World Oceans Day (June 8), sign the petition on Atlantic bluefin tuna at thepetitionsite.com.

Now, the tuna snagged from the sea for canning isn’t in quite as critical a state, but if we don’t slow down our consumption and change the way we fish, it’ll go the way of the bluefin.

If you want to make sure you don’t contribute to their demise, you’ve got to pick the right can. Earlier this year, Greenpeace Canada issued a report on canned tuna and published some pretty horrifying stats about “light” tuna (mostly skipjack and yellowfin) and the “white” stuff, albacore. If you thought dolphin-safe tuna kept shark and turtles safe, you’ve got another thing coming.

On the 100-kilometre longlines that snag albacore, at least 250,000 loggerhead turtles and 60,000 leatherback turtles are caught every year. As well, 1.4 million sharks get caught, killed and tossed as “bycatch.” The bycatch rate for yellowfin is just as frightening (111,000 tons of other species for every 1,000 tons of yellowfin, according to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission).

Cheap Deals on Tuna -Wild Planet Sustainably Caught Wild Albacore ...

Outstanding product and even more so if you are a Amazon.com prime member with the shipping being free 2 day. My oldest takes these pop top can to school and has it for lunch (he keeps extras in his locker). He packs it in a with a little pepper or lite lemon pepper and /or a lemon wedge and he’s a happy camper. His friends parents have also ordered this product. There is a world of difference between this tuna and the regular market brands. You don’t need mayo!

I originally tried Wild Planet tuna back in 2006 when Amazon carried their “minimal mercury” products, and I was extremely impressed by the taste and the quality of the tuna. I was never a fan of tuna in the past, but I thought their canned tuna was outstanding. They stopped selling tuna with the “minimal mercury” label, and I drifted away from buying tuna until recently. I decided to try Wild Planet again. I don’t know if their “low mercury” label is any different or perhaps the standard definitions have changed, but the online discussions make be believe that the mercury content in this product is really quite low.

The taste is still excellent, and I’m happy to see that the product is still like it was over three years ago – in that the chunks of tuna are large and nothing is added (besides salt in some versions). The natural juices from the fish keep it very moist and taste great.

I also believe that their fishing practices are more sustainable and have less collateral damage (i.e. killing other animals) than other methods. That makes me feel much better about buying their products. Few things make me as upset as needless death or outright cruelty, and so while I enjoy eating meat and seafood, I look for people and brands that strive to avoid those things.

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