4 Surprising Places You Can Buy Sustainable Fish

This is the latest installment in Casson Trenor's monthly column, 4 Oceans, about protecting our fisheries and ocean health through sustainable seafood.

Even as the plight of our oceans worsens, a large sector of the seafood industry continues to defend the status quo. Issues of grave concern like overfishing, bottom trawling, and piracy are swept under the carpet time and time again by the same tired argument: "sustainable seafood is too expensive."

This adage comes in many forms. "Sustainability is just for the rich," is a common one. Or maybe the scoundrels go for the jugular with pseudo-patriotic poppycock like "real Americans can't afford to eat sustainable fish." This scare tactic is designed to end the conversation so conventional industry can get back to slinging the same ill-gotten plunder that's gotten us to this point of ailing seas and depleted fish stocks.

The fact of the matter is that, at the end of the day, it's not sustainable seafood that's too expensive -- rather, it is unsustainable seafood, with all of its associated externalities, subsidies, and Faustian bargains that is out of our price range. It's time to put this argument where it belongs: in the past.

This month's 4 Oceans highlights several stores priced for mainstream America that are leading the charge on sustainable seafood in conventional retail. If these guys can do it, anyone can.

1. Safeway

It may come as a shock, but the 1,700+ Safeway stores across the country are on track to become a powerful force for ocean conservation. According to Greenpeace's most recent seafood retailer ranking, Safeway has the most sustainable seafood operation of any major market in the United States. With a score of 6.5 out of 10, Safeway has a long way to go yet, but has still managed to outperform stores like Whole Foods that are generally assumed to be more able to provide sustainable options thanks to more affluent clientele.

Safeway has recently discontinued some particularly unsustainable seafood items (like orange roughy) and is providing thorough in-store information about their commitment to sustainability. The company has also spoken out publicly in favor of global conservation efforts; their recent shout-out supporting Ross Sea protection is an excellent example of how mainstream retailers are rounding the horn on seafood sustainability and foraying into the highly political -- and critically important -- arena of marine reserve establishment.

2. Target

The big-box retail titan from Minnesota tied for the #2 spot in this year's rankings with Wegmans (a progressive high-end grocer that has also done some extremely impressive work on seafood sustainability). This is actually a slight step down for Target -- the company took the top spot in last year's rankings, largely because of its willingness to tackle Matterhorn-like challenges that other companies refuse to even consider. A prime example is Target's decision to discontinue all forms of farmed salmon throughout their entire operation. This initiative has greatly deflated conventional industry "farmed salmon is necessary because people want inexpensive salmon" fear-mongering.

Target has also evolved beyond the sale of unsustainable mainstays like Chilean sea bass, and continuing to press forward along other avenues of seafood sustainability. It's true that Target doesn't sell a great deal of seafood when compared to many other nationwide retailers, but this kind of progress still goes to show that even big-box discounters can do great things for environmental preservation when they commit to it.

3. Harris Teeter

The growing consumer demand for sustainable seafood is not only found in the leftist enclaves of Northern California or among patrons of trendy, feel-good East Village restaurants. The sustainable seafood movement is making headway all across the country, and in the American South, this has been spearheaded by the remarkable efforts of Harris Teeter, a household-name grocery store that has dominated much of the retail sector in Georgia and the Carolinas for decades. Even though Harris Teeter competes directly with price-focused grocers such as Food Lion and Walmart, the company has taken an aggressive approach to seafood sustainability and is becoming an undeniable leader in the sector.