# So I switched from tuna to sardines. Is that helping? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016 "2011-01-09T20:25:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/21 "2011-01-11T15:32:33Z")
> [@Wogglebug](#): > > I’ll disagree here. In my experience canned tuna is worse than canned sardines, mackerel and salmon. All fish are worse canned, but tuna is the extreme. (Actually, canned crab can be flat out awful, but that’s OT.) > > When I was younger, before I’d learned to cook much, I was afraid of fresh fish. Shopping at our local oriental market – with live fish – finally convinced me that I needed to learn. > > Fresh or fresh frozen tuna cooked with a little care is, to my taste, better than any steak. > > Sashimi grade tuna is so good both during eating and following, that I’ll get it, regardless of the expense, to settle stomach problems. > > Canned tuna compared to fresh??? No comparison at all. Canned tuna is one of the most loathsome adulterations in the entire food industry. :rolleyes: ::SIGH:: The point I was making wasn’t about comparing a friggin’ can of tuna to a piece of sashimi-grade tuna. It was about the calories of canned tuna packed in water versus canned tuna packed in oil. I don’t open a can of tuna and expect to get the same flavor profile as I would when ordering seared Ahi or something. Now, for the sake of being pretentious, you can tell me how beneath you Ahi is, unless it’s grilled on an Asian’s ass under the heat of the natural sun, in June, along the black sand beaches of Hawaii. . ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/22 "2011-01-13T19:51:27Z")
There are different aspects to look at when eating fish: Wild fish (Which is usually, but not always, salt-water fish) versus bred fish (which is mostly, but not always, sweet-water fish); ecological impact (on others); nutrional impact (on you). Last of all comes of course the taste question. Both wild and bred fish that you buy in the normal supermarket has a bad impact on the enviroment. The wild fish, whether tuna or sardines, is caught in factory ships which overfish and destroy the ocean enviroment. They also cause hunger in Africa (like Somalia - now, with the pirates, the factory fishing ships stay away, so slowly the fish are starting to recover) when the local fishers in their wooden boats can’t catch anything because all fish are caught beyond the 12 mile zone. Bred fish are not better: like crabs or cattle, it’s a short-term, profit-maximizing process. In Vietnam and other places, they put so much chemicals in the water to keep the fish alive that they have to move on after 5 years and the area is useless for any other use. Your own health: Wild fish at the top of the food chain accumulate more heavy metals and poisions (from ships for example, the anti-algae chemical that they use) in the ocean. Bred fish however, are also given a lot of chemicals because of the industrial conditions (too close together, so lots of antibiotica, chemicals to quickly grow etc.) Salmon is fed colouring agents to get the flesh just the right shade the consumers like. That’s not good for your health. Better choices: for wild fish, look for the [WWF- cooperated](http://www.msc.org/) [MSC label](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Stewardship_Council) that rewards responsible fishing. [Greenpeace](http://www.greenpeace.de/themen/meere/fischerei/)has a small shopping guide on which fish kinds are threatened and should not be eaten, and which are plenty and can be eaten. Bred fish: choose organic raised fish certified by one of the major organic groups (I don’t know their names in the US). This will be also better for your health. Then you only need to find which fish in those acceptable groups you like the taste of. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/23 "2011-01-13T19:54:41Z")
[Here](http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/Global/usa/report/2010/4/supermarket-seafood-sustainabi.pdf)is a PDF in English. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/24 "2011-01-13T20:00:09Z")
And [here](http://www.ifoam.org/organic_world/directory/Countries/United-States-Members.html) is a list of organic partners of IFOAM in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/25 "2011-01-13T20:29:10Z")
[Here](http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx) are the lists made by the Monterey Bay Aquarium of environmentally friendly fish. From this perspective, canned tuna is fine. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/26 "2011-01-14T10:22:29Z")
To translate the German comments for Tuna and sardines (because I couldn’t find the same guide on the English Greenpeace page) Sardines: Generally not acceptable. Exceptions if caught in Northeast atlantic - Cornwall, if caught in Southeast atlantic - Africa with ringwaders, pelargic nets Tuna: Generally not acceptable. Exceptions for Skipjack (K. pelamis) caught in West- and East atlantic, west- and central pacific, indian ocean - with handlines and rod/line. Greenpeace means with “not acceptable” that this fish is endangered if caught elsewhere or with other methods. The real difficulty then is finding a fish seller (because supermarkets generally only have tins, which don’t give details) who knows the kind of tuna (there are 8 proper kinds, plus Bonito and similar which are also counted) the where and how of its capture. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/27 "2011-01-14T10:28:04Z")
Greenpeace recommends only few fish: Carp; trout; herring - but not if caught in north east atlantic, north sea, north west atlantic, Ost (Eastern) sea, Canada; mackerel - but not if caught in North East atlantic; zander - not if caught by Estland and Baltic. For the fresh water fish, they recommend organic fisheries. Salmon is generally not acceptable except if caught in North east pacific gulf of alaska (with MSC seal); but they don’t mention organic salmon raised in fisheries, although I know there are some big holding nets in front of Ireland where people grow them. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/28 "2011-01-22T14:43:14Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I hope this makes sense. I want to know if this move actually does any good, but more broadly I need some clarification of ocean food-chain food source issues. I received this in my email, hope it helps. * * * Suzuki’s Top 10 Sustainable Seafood Picks "It’s not uncommon to hear David Suzuki say, I am fish. What he means is that humans aren’t much different from the living, breathing species that come from the sea. This is a good thing to remember when choosing your food. Enjoying seafood sustainably means acknowledging the animal’s unique role in nature, understanding how it got from the water to your plate, and managing how much of it we consume. “Our Top 10 sustainable seafood guide is a great place to start. It helps you find the best sustainable seafood available in your grocery store. This seafood is harvested in a way that protects surrounding sea creatures and the ecosystems they depend on. Plus, these species aren’t overfished so we can continue to enjoy them for years to come…” > **[Healthy food systems for a healthy planet](https://davidsuzuki.org/story/healthy-food-systems-for-a-healthy-planet/)** > > We have many opportunities to resolve the climate crisis. Food systems are a big part of the puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/29 "2011-01-22T15:08:35Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > We’re not worried about running out of… sardines; they’re plentiful in the ocean ecosystem. [http://ca-seafood.ucdavis.edu/facts/species.htm#anchor1163216](http://ca-seafood.ucdavis.edu/facts/species.htm#anchor1163216) > [@](#): > > Beginning in the late 1940’s, sardines vanished – first from the Pacific Northwest, then from Monterey, and in the 1950’s from southern California. Scientists now recognize that, beyond fishing pressure, a change in oceanic cycles, reflected in an extended period of below-normal water temperatures, greatly influenced the decline. The article goes on to say that in the current warm-water cycle, ‘sardines have returned to abundance.’ I think the West Coast populations are also aided by sardines (apparently) not being as popular in the U.S. as they were before the '40s. I think it’s dangerous to not worry about running out of a resource, just because there’s plenty of it at the moment. I keep sardines at my desk, and in my cupboard. For a while I tried to find the best ones available; but I tired of paying four bucks a tin. So now I just get the 79¢ ones from the dollar store, and save the expensive ones for special treats. I like the cheap sardines in mustard sauce, or I’ll squirt some Sriracha (and maybe some soy sauce) on them and mash them up. The good ones I eat plain. Riga Gold smoked sprats are also very tasty. I wish I could remember where I got the herring fillets in Dijon mustard. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016/30 "2011-01-23T21:23:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I think it’s dangerous to not worry about running out of a resource, just because there’s plenty of it at the moment. Likewise, it’s important to think of the effects of the harvesting methods well as the abundance of the species itself. For example, eating shrimp constitutes eating pretty low on the food chain, but some of the fishing methods for harvesting shrimp are terribly destructive to the ocean floor ecosystem and everything that depends on it. From the link you posted, it looks like they’re paying attention to the fishing methods for sardines, so that’s good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-switched-from-tuna-to-sardines-is-that-helping/567016.md?page=1)