# Lobby Cosco to sell sustainable fish



## stratos (Apr 21, 2010)

Cosco is one of the last big retailers to continue selling threatened fish.

Check out: Supermarket giant Metro temporarily halting sales of 7 threatened fish species - Yahoo! Canada Finance

If you shop at Cosco, fill out one of their little customer feedback forms and tell them you want only non-threatened/sustainable fish sold there. Meanwhile, don't buy their Red Snapper; it is a threatened species


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

WOW! I hope this stops, i never knew they were selling threatened species~


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## FED (Apr 25, 2010)

bulk red snapper.. how can you say no :S


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

LOL!
I definitely can say no! If it's endangered, i rather my kids one day have a chance to see em!


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## Hammer (Apr 22, 2010)

Buy wild B.C. salmon and halibut instead.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

a bit unrelated, but be sure to ask your fav sushi shops where they get their fish from. Its highly frowned upon for sushi bars to serve farmed low quality salmon. if they do it usually indicates that other things are not up to par.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow, no idea red snapper was endangered. Eat it all the time at sushi bars.


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## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

This is great news. Let's hope they don't start selling gmo fish instead.


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## Hammer (Apr 22, 2010)

Snapper from sushi bars is actually a different fish. What we call red snapper is actually a sebastode- a member of the rockfish family- slow to grow and reproduce.

Sushi snapper is actually a tropical species. I am not sure exactly what Costco markets as "snapper". Labelling and marketing of fish is a really hazy business.

Hammer


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Costco does not actually purchase "Red Snapper". They buy Rockfosh fillets (the name had to be revised recently because they are actually a Pacific Rockfish species) Usually the species sold in Costco, at least in BC, is usually either Grey or Rougheye rockfish as these species produce larger fillets due to their potential size (they are also more common). I have not checked Costco lately for 'Red Snapper' fillets, but I would put money on it that they are currently marketed as 'Rockfish' fillet. I'm not trying to sound like a know-it-all, but at one time I was a groundfish buyer for Albion Fisheries (the largest and most recognized seafood distributor in Western Canada). Albion also is a HAACP approved federal processing plant who works in close association with the restaurant sector on the Ocean Wise program and with the Marine Stewardship Council with the retail sector. 

Hopefully this will clear up some misinformation.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

neven said:


> a bit unrelated, but be sure to ask your fav sushi shops where they get their fish from. Its highly frowned upon for sushi bars to serve farmed low quality salmon. if they do it usually indicates that other things are not up to par.


i was told that if the salmon has really really thick fatty marbling thats a sign of a farmed fish
no idea if its true or not


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## big_bubba_B (Apr 25, 2010)

i catch red snapper there good


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

True Red Snapper are a Gulf of Mexico native and are are not caught in the Pacific Northwest. Here is a link  regarding its true identity.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## Brisch (May 13, 2010)

its not endangered at all


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

There is always the option to forego eating all seafood.....
Large corporations that handle alot of the fishing industry care nothing for sustainability or ecosystems management.
Cthulhu will eat them first when he wakes up.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

Brisch said:


> its not endangered at all


lol

Seafood to Avoid - Don't Eat Endangered Fish and Seafood
http://www.helium.com/items/1959656-the-top-species-of-fish-that-are-in-danger-of-being-overfished
yes it is.

its worsened by the fact that they take 10-12 years to reach sexual maturity so populations take a long time to bounce back.

its too bad awareness is so terribly low at how bad the situation is in the oceans right now, maybe if the media was less concerned with which celebrities are cheating and more concerned with the problems we face atm.

Jeremy Jackson: How we wrecked the ocean | Video on TED.com

also, snapper eat sea urchins, if the snapper disapear, the urchins can eat up the reef and kill it.


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## Bok (Apr 22, 2010)

Mferko said:


> its too bad awareness is so terribly low at how bad the situation is in the oceans right now.


Yes, it is terrible. That's why I don't believe everything I read(especially about.com) on the internet. There is a lot of misleading info there, especially on cod. Misleading and not up to date.
I do like the recipes they give though.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

agreed, which is why i still prefer reading a published book to surfing the net if i really want to learn about something.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Having studied fish and aquaculture at UBC, one of the discoveries they made while researching rock cod is the terribly slow rate of growth these fish have. Many species of market sized rock cod, for instance, are at least 20 years old when harvested and so replacement juveniles to replenish stocks take far too long to grow to market size to maintain a sustainable fishery. Salmon, in contrast, only take 3 to 4 years. Lots of other species are also faster growing and better able to achieve sustainability.

Personally, I have no trouble eating farmed salmon. In fact, I prefer a properly raised farm salmon for cooking and eating than sockeye. I know sockeye is the salmon of choice for most consumers, but I find it too lean and if overcooked even a little bit, can be hard and dry. Fattier farmed salmon, in contrast, remains moist and juicy. Sashimi or lightly cooked sockeye is, of course, delicious. So yeah, it sounds like blasphemy, but I like to eat farmed salmon. (I also know all the restrictions and regulations fish farmers must comply with in order to be allowed to stay in business and to sell their fish to consumers).


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Mferko said:


> i was told that if the salmon has really really thick fatty marbling thats a sign of a farmed fish
> no idea if its true or not


I believe most farmed salmon are Atlantic salmon. The marbling is more pronounced in Atlantics.


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## kodak (Apr 25, 2010)

Try stopping a world full of carnivores from eating meat... were uncontrolable animals, and even though laws are put in place poaching still goes on world wide. shark fin soup anyone?


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