Being “Savvy” Is Simple

Seafood is an important and widely available source of nutrition for populations around the world. Increased demand for popular seafood is depleting global fish stocks and harming the health of our oceans. The good news is you, as an individual, along with restaurants, retailers, and other businesses, can play a vital role in conserving the health of our oceans. Through the Seafood Savvy Program at the Georgia Aquarium we have the opportunity to educate ourselves and the community around us to make wise selections of seafood.

With seventy-six percent of the world’s fisheries fully fished or overfished, scientists are concerned that the oceans can not keep up with the growing demand. Forty-one percent of our known fisheries in the U.S. are overfished. The number of fish swimming in the sea is a fraction of what it was a century ago. While the population of fish and marine life declines, the demand for seafood increases. If we remove fish at the current rate, there will not be enough left to support a healthy, viable fishing industry that can feed a growing population. How we proceed will affect the future.

As a major attraction, with a focus on education and conservation, the Georgia Aquarium’s Seafood Savvy Program can impact not only locally, but globally as well. The Seafood Savvy Program is designed to empower seafood consumers and businesses to make informed choices for healthy oceans and ensure abundant supplies of seafood for the future.

The Seafood Savvy Guide is a pocket card that can be carried so you have a resource to access while ordering from a restaurant menu or making a selection at your seafood market.  Using your cell phone or mobile device with Internet connection, you can log on to www.georgiaaquarium.org/ss.html and you will automatically be directed to the seafood search. Now you can be prepared the next time you are at the grocery store or eating at a restaurant.

After all, in the U.S. sixty-seven percent of seafood by value moves through restaurants to the consumers, and an additional twenty four percent is sold through retail outlets as a fresh or frozen product.

As gatekeepers to the seafood supply, your purchasing powers DO make a difference.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”- Margaret Mead

Seafood Savvy is brought to you in partnership with Monterey Bay Aquarium.