Global consumption of seafood has doubled since the 1970s. In 2016, we consumed a record-breaking 20kg per capita. This is the most seafood humans have ever consumed in history. Roughly ⅓ of the world’s fish stocks now overfished. Simply put, our marine species cannot reproduce fast enough to keep up with the hunt.
SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD
WITH OCEAN WISE SEAFOOD
🌎 🌍 🌏
Supporting Sustainable seafood is always Charmy’s
TOP PRIORITY for selecting our seafood suppliers.
THREAT TO OUR OCEANS:
OVERFISHING
Overfishing is a huge global issue. Ocean Wise seafood is a conservation program that aims to tackle this crisis. As an Ocean Wise Seafood partner, Charmy Box has committed to clearly label all Ocean Wise recommended options so consumers can make sustainable choices. If you see the Ocean Wise symbol next to a seafood item, you know that option is the best choice for our oceans' health. Learn more about the Ocean Wise Seafood program.
THREAT TO OUR OCEANS:
HABITAT DAMAGE
Certain fishing and farming practices can negatively impact critical marine or aquatic habitats. With the loss of crucial habitats such as spawning, nursery, breeding, or sheltering areas, many species find it challenging to survive, let alone thrive. Communities such as coral reefs, kelp forests, mangroves, and wetlands provide critical habitat for a wide array of organisms, and damage to these vital areas can have dramatic consequences for the environment. Choosing Ocean Wise recommended sustainable seafood ensures that the species was harvested in a way with minimal impacts on the environment, or on other species. Learn more about Ocean Wise recommendations.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
'FARMED SEAFOOD'
It is a common misconception that wild seafood is good and farm-raised is bad. Unfortunately, the answer is not black and white. What’s the difference? Put simply, wild-caught seafood is caught from a natural habitat (lake, ocean, river), whereas farmed seafood has been purposely grown in tanks, pens, ponds, or cultured on- or off- bottom for consumption. There are sustainable and unsustainable methods of harvesting wild fish, just as there are methods of farming seafood that are highly sustainable (and can even provide benefits to the habitats in which they are located), while others can have large negative impacts on the environment. In the store or on your plate, the two could look the same but are not promised to be equivalent. That is why it is so important to choose Ocean Wise recommended, sustainable seafood – it is an assurance that the seafood comes from a sustainable fishery or farm.
Sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices include:
Harvesting that ensures healthy and resilient stocks
Effective and adaptive management
Limited negative impacts on habitats or other species
Learn more about different seafood harvest methods.
FARMED SEAFOOD CAN CLOSE THE GAP
BETWEEN PROTEIN DEMAND AND SUPPLY
As we know, the human population is growing, so is food demand, particularly for protein. Seafood can be considered an affordable, lower-impact, healthy protein source (compared to livestock and poultry) and seemly appropriate, especially for the impoverished countries. Farming fish will be a reliable way to fight poverty and have been proven successful. Many developing countries have devoted small-scale aquaculture and reported a considerable improvement in reducing poverty, food security, and social well-being.
SEAFOOD FARMING CAN
INCREASE EFFICIENCY WITH FEWER INPUTS
Beef and pork require up to 10KG and 5KG of food respectively to produce 1KG of meat. Comparatively, farmed salmon and shrimp require up to 2KG of feed for every 1KG of mass gained, however this can often involve harvesting wild fish to feed the farms.
Bivalve shellfish like mussels, clams, and oysters require zero inputs to grow, making them a particularly sustainable protein source; no other animals or plants need to be grown and harvested to feed shellfish. They are also a restorative species, meaning they filter and clean the water as they grow – improving water quality, clarity, and even creating habitat! This is why Charmy Box’s farmed mussels are a super sustainable choice for your pets!
Zero and low input protein from sustainably farmed seafood is important to support healthy diets and a sustainable future. Learn more about restorative seafood and aquaculture.