SOS! Malaysians hooked on seafood

Save Our Seafood campaign urges them to cut down to prevent depletion
Elizabeth Looi, Straits Times 12 Jun 10;

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians have been advised to cut down their consumption of pomfret, lobster, ray and other popular sea fish if they want to save them from depletion.

The call by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia urges Malaysians to refrain from eating sea fish that are overfished, caught or farmed using methods that are damaging to the environment.

Malaysia's seafood consumption is the highest in South-east Asia, and the second largest in Asia after Japan, with an average consumption of 1.4 billion kg every year, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) stated.

This eating preference is leading to the depletion of fisheries resources in the waters surrounding the country, green groups believe.

WWF - with a local NGO, Malaysian Nature Society - launched a Save Our Seafood campaign this week to promote sustainable seafood choices.

'We must be more responsible in our consumption of fish because we simply cannot afford to deplete our oceans of marine life, as it would jeopardise one of our key food sources as well as the fisheries industry that sustains millions of livelihoods,' said WWF Malaysia executive director and chief executive officer Dionysius Sharma at the launch of the campaign.

A palm-size Malaysia Sustainable Seafood Guidebook unveiled at the launch advises Malaysians to avoid 21 types of seafood. It also names 13 species they should be wary of or think twice before eating.

Of the 50 most popular Malaysian seafood species, the book recommends that Malaysians eat only 17, such as anchovies, tuna and Indian mackerel, which have not been over-exploited. The list is based on a 21-month study by WWF that included seafood eating habits in the country.

Apart from being a big consumer, Malaysia is also among the top exporters of seafood, mainly to Europe. The seafood industry is the second largest food export industry in the country, with a total export value of over RM2.5 billion (S$1.07 billion) every year.

In 2007, the total fish production was 1.65 million tonnes valued at RM5.8 billion. It went up to 1.75 million tonnes the following year, recording a value of RM7.4 billion.

Seafood lovers, however, are not willing to give up their favourite food so fast. Instead of blaming consumers for the rapid depletion, the government must take the responsibility to enforce stricter measures on fishing methods, they say.

'We have allowed seafood species to be harvested even before they are ready for consumption, unlike Western countries, where you can't take in a catch if it does not meet the required length or weight,' said seafood lover E.K. Cheah, whose father and grandfather were fishermen.


List to help you watch what you eat
Straits Times 12 Jun 10;

SOME of the WWF recommendations:

Avoid eating:
# Silver pomfret, black pomfret
# Ray
# Threadfin breams
# Flounder
# Indian squid, needle cuttlefish
# Mud spiny lobster, slipper lobster
# Bigeye trevally
# Brown stripe red snapper
# Coral trout
# Orange-spotted grouper

Eat occasionally:
# Sea cucumber
# John's snapper, red snapper
# Flower crab
# Banana prawn
# Coral grouper
# Sea bass
# Tiger prawn, whiteleg prawn
# Brown-marbled grouper

Recommended eating choice:
# Anchovies
# Oval squid
# Tuna
# Indian mackerel, Spanish mackerel
# Mangrove red snapper
# Humpback grouper, giant grouper
# Oysters
# Mud crab