Food and Wine Announces Eco-Ocean Award Winners

Food and Wine magazine has announced the four winners of its Eco-Ocean Awards for their commitment to sustainable seafood.

Since 1989, North Atlantic Salmon Fund of Iceland has helped decrease salmon fishing in the Atlantic by 75 percent, raising and distributing about $40 million to fishermen who stop catching overfished Atlantic salmon. Additionally, the company helps the fishermen find new jobs.

CleanFish of San Francisco supports small, eco-minded fisheries by helping them sell their seafood to prestigious retailers and restaurants. Today the company works with about 24 fish farms and wild fisheries and has become a valued resource for various environmental groups.

Ocean Conservatory of Washington, D.C., was chosen for its work to restore Gulf of Mexico red snapper by urging science-based catch limits by regulators and encouraging major seafood suppliers and retailers to engage in fisheries management and offer sustainable options. As a result, Gulf red snapper now has a management plan based on science and the population has a good chance of returning to historic levels.

Ocean-restoration group Oceana aims to protect fish by lobbying to end government subsidies given out worldwide to fishermen, which, the group says, produces a worldwide fishing fleet that's up to 250 percent larger than what is required to fish at sustainable levels. The organization pushed for two resolutions last year, which were both passed by Congress. Now, it is lobbying foreign delegates to the World Trade Organization to end fishing subsides in 152 countries. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt yesterday lauded the ability of independent, third-party certification programs to improve food safety.

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