If you've eaten some seafood, you've eaten some fishy food.

If you haven't been told otherwise, you might not think twice about eating at a place that sells seafood. Especially if it came with a recommendation from a friend. But truthfully, just because the place is reputable doesn't automatically mean that their seafood is. You don't know where it's been or how cheaply it was bought. It could've been harvested in unclean and overcrowded waters.

Thankfully, the knowledge to eat sustainably is publicly available to you! Even if you like to eat seafood, you can still support the environment by buying fish that was harvested sustainably and by workers who are paid well.

If you don't want to have to remember all these fish, Monterrey Bay Aquarium has a free Seafood Watch App!

Your choices in restaurants make a big difference to the environment. Monterey Bay Aquarium's seafood watch website says it best. "From above, it may seem that there are plenty of fish in the sea, but dive beneath the surface and it's a different story. Overfishing, lack of effective management, and our own consumption habits are just a few factors contributing to a decline in wild fish populations. Evidence of these problems abounds." (http://www.seafoodwatch.org/ocean-issues/wild-seafood)

Harmful fishing also hurts other animals, including marine mammals and birds because of accidental catching of unwanted species. This can quickly deplete their food sources. Fishing gear itself can also cause damage. If people are careless, fishing supplies could drop into the ocean, which would be a huge hassle to get back out.

If you're curious about how to make better seafood choices for specific fish like: farmed catfish, shark, farmed rainbow trout, freshwater eel, bluefin tuna, and more. There's a virtual cafe which covers all that! It's available in English and Spanish and perfect for kids or adults. I'd recommend watching just to listen to the head chef alone. http://static.montereybayaquarium.org/sfw-learning-modules/cafe/

The scary thing about unsustainable fishing is that even if you have put in the effort to find a sustainable type of seafood and order it, it's possible for it to be swapped out for a cheaper alternative. Inside Edition uncovered cases of fish switches: https://youtu.be/b6H1_4Mc-hU. Their data says that a third of the restaurants they visited in Atlanta served up cheaper fish. But in Tampa they found no issues with the restaurants they visited. A way to avoid this would be to buy sustainable fish at a farmers market where it would be much more difficult to pass this fish off as something else. Since when it's cooked and covered in other things it becomes easier to mask the taste of a cheaper fish.

If you live in the US and are looking for a printable seafood watch guide specific to your state, go here: http://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-recommendations/consumer-guides.