Is Your Fish Ecologically Fishy?

What do orange roughy, monkfish, Chilean sea bass, and imported farmed or wild shrimp have in common? You shouldn’t be eating them, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch. Closer to home, the Santa Barbara Sustainable Seafood Program wants to tell you what is safe to eat-for both you and the future of the fish in question. To help do that, the program is throwing an event called Sensational Seafood on Sunday, May 3, from 6-8 p.m. at the Ty Warner Sea Center. Kim Selkoe, of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), said the evening is “going to be a one-of-a-kind event featuring some of Santa Barbara’s best chefs preparing fresh-off-the-boat local specialties before your eyes, like abalone, halibut, shrimp, scallops, and oysters, with cooking demonstrations and lots of information about how to find and cook sustainable seafood.” Heather Lahr, co-director of the program, asserted, “This event is celebrating the local efforts to become more sustainable as a community. This takes shape in multiple ways, from restaurants becoming more aware of their menu choices to the promotion of seafood that comes straight from our channel, thereby eliminating costly food miles and increasing an awareness of the seasonality of seafood. We plan to bring together all the people who are working to make the seafood industry more streamlined and allow customers to have easier access to ocean-friendly seafood choices.” Pre-registration is required, so email hlahr@sbnature2.org, call 682-4711 x170, or see sbnature.org/tickets/index.php.