A Flurry of New Pocket Guides and Seafood Sustainability Lists Risk doing More Harm Than Good by Confusing Consumers in a Market already Saturated with Sometimes Contradictory Messages

Washington, DC and Miami, Florida, October 21, 2008 — Tomorrow the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program, the Blue Ocean Institute and the Environmental Defense Fund will release new pocket guides to sustainable sushi.

Reporters and editors are urged to question the overall viability of the guides while keeping in mind there is little if any independent oversight and or uniformity in production of these types of materials. By causing confusion in the marketplace, these guides might actually dissuade consumers from eating seafood, something that would deny them proven health benefits.

Whats more, use of guides produced by environmental lobbying groups in order to obtain nutrition information is completely inappropriate.

You are urged to consult with members of the seafood community to provide a fuller picture of the issues involved.

The following spokespeople are available to provide input from the global fisheries industry regarding the guide’s recommendations:

Gavin Gibbons
National Fisheries Institute
703-752-8891

Mary Ellen Walling
Salmon of the Americas/BC Salmon Farmers
250-286-1636

For more than 60 years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have provided American families with the variety of sustainable seafood essential to a healthy diet. For more information visit: www.AboutSeafood.com.

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