Where can I buy fish/seafood that is not from China?

[The Mystery Machine]

Why is it a problem that a prison is farming fish? If they were growing cows, would that be OK? What if they were growing corn? Building furniture? Training dogs?

Because they only pay the prisoners X cents per hour to work, it is tax payer supported, and non prison fish farms cannot compete with those prices.

Basically it is like WalMart coming in and wiping out the small business owner.

Prison farming is a seriously multi million dollar business.

 

[LisaR]

We have a Whole Foods about 35 miles from here that I want to go check out!

Bring a lot of money. They don't call it Whole Paycheck for nothing.

 

[dadddio]

Because they only pay the prisoners X cents per hour to work, it is tax payer supported, and non prison fish farms cannot compete with those prices.

Basically it is like WalMart coming in and wiping out the small business owner.

Prison farming is a seriously multi million dollar business.

I getcha. You don't shop at any big retailer like Walmart and you see this as the same thing. I thought that you had some problem with the actual fish.

I'd love to have a conversation about prison products, but that's for a different thread.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I getcha. You don't shop at any big retailer like Walmart and you see this as the same thing. I thought that you had some problem with the actual fish.

I'd love to have a conversation about prison products, but that's for a different thread.

Oh no, I shop WalMart however not sure about "prison fish". It is just a whole other topic like you said.

But interesting enough Whole Foods is the major recipient of "prison tilapia".

Good, bad, not sure what to think of it really. I just know it is exists and puts the small fish farming business out of work because they seriously undercut the price.

Now I mainly do not eat tilapia because I don't like it.

I suppose you could get into the whole issue of sustainability with wild fish. and then there is the issue of capture of other species in the nets and so forth.

I guess pick your battles.

On a more interesting note....did you know that a percentage of fish passed off in restaurants is not what you ordered?

Like I said this topic is so wrought with "shade" that you would starve to death, right. The you have "bung" being passed off as calamari...but everyone will swear it does not happen.

 

[NotUrsula]

There is nothing whatsoever wrong with the nutritive value of wild-caught saltwater fish from Chinese territorial waters. I eat them all the time; I buy them live at my local Chinese fish market and clean them myself; so I know exactly what species they are.

Freshwater fish is another matter. The problem with a lot of freshwater fish farming in China is not the so much the methods that are used, which are the same as they would be anywhere, but the possibility of heavy-metals contamination in the water due to the proximity of other industries.

Farmed fish will always have issues related to the cleanliness of the water that it is raised in, but part of the function of some species is that their eating habits clean the water. Catfish are in this category, and so are tilapia. For this reason, they will always taste like mud regardless of whether they are wild-caught or farmed, because they are filter-feeding species that ingest mud in order to get nutrients out of it. With fried catfish you can get past that by using very heavily-spiced breading, but that normally is not a satisfactory solution for tilapia. I don't eat it for that reason; it's not bad for me, but I just don't like the way that it tastes. (I grew up knowing Tilapia as "trash-fish" because that is what they were considered at the time: good for bait or animal feed, but not for human consumption because of taste. People CAN eat most trash-fish species; it is just that most of us prefer not to.)

For the record, there is also a very large tilapia-raising industry in Mexico; they are normally raised in the drainage canals of vegetable farms to provide some extra income.

As for prison-farming, that is an economic issue. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the nutritive value of the fish.

 

[tasha99]

I would think there would be Alaskan cod, halibut (a flatfish like flounder) and salmon (red/sockeye, silver/coho, or king/chinook) in most markets. I would avoid Atlantic salmon as it is farmed and dyed.

snip

On a more interesting note....did you know that a percentage of fish passed off in restaurants is not what you ordered?

Like I said this topic is so wrought with "shade" that you would starve to death, right. The you have "bung" being passed off as calamari...but everyone will swear it does not happen.

This is a huge issue and one I find shocking. I want to know where my fish is from and what it is. I catch my own for home meals, but that doesn't matter when I go out for sushi.

 

[tvguy]

I don't understand why the stores are allowed to sell fish from China if it is harmful to you.

Probably because it isn't any more harmful than many fish from U.S. waterways.

 

[tvguy]

Interesting comments on Tilapia. They are not poop eaters by the way, they are commonly planted in waterways clogged with vegetation to clear it. Although lobster, crab, oysters and clams are poop eaters, and taste just fine to me.
Never really noticed a distinct flavor to Tialapi, which may explain why they are marketed as the mildest tasting fish you can buy. They were a fish commonly mentioned in the bible, and have been a food staple in the Middle East for centuries. They are a fast growing fish, so they are less likely to pickup up contaminants from water. The bad news is, they really aren't a good source of Omega 3, which is why many folks are eating more fish.

 

[DopeyDame]

I'm not sure who "they" are that say you shouldn't buy farmed fish, but like so much in the food realm, what you should and shouldn't buy really depends on what your priorities are. I try to buy my seafood with sustainability in mind. In that case, farmed talapia is actually fantastic and listed as a "Best Choice" by Seafood Watch.
You can see what Best, Good, and Avoid choices and learn a lot more about healthful eating of fish here:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx?c=ln

They have a printable pocket guide, as well as an app, so you can bring the info with you when you shop.

As for where to buy non-Chinese fish, my local safeway has plenty of fish not from China in their fresh fish section. I haven't ever really looked at the frozen fish very closely, so I'm not sure if it's all from China there or not.

 

[tasha99]

Interesting comments on Tilapia. They are not poop eaters by the way, they are commonly planted in waterways clogged with vegetation to clear it. Although lobster, crab, oysters and clams are poop eaters, and taste just fine to me.
Never really noticed a distinct flavor to Tialapi, which may explain why they are marketed as the mildest tasting fish you can buy. They were a fish commonly mentioned in the bible, and have been a food staple in the Middle East for centuries. They are a fast growing fish, so they are less likely to pickup up contaminants from water. The bad news is, they really aren't a good source of Omega 3, which is why many folks are eating more fish.

I would never call Tilapia a mild flavored fish. To me, a mild fish would be halibut or cod. Years ago, my son told me he didn't mind having fish for dinner, but no tilapia or salmon. I tried to sneak tilapia it in a few times, but he could always tell because of the muddy flavor.

 

[dyna]

Belive it or not I've asked at several of my so called "local fresh fish markets" where their fish comes from an was sadly told "CHINA".

So just because it is fresh does not mean it is not from China!

 

[DopeyDame]

So just because it is fresh does not mean it is not from China!

Obviously! But as far as I can remember, every grocery store of fish market labels the country of origin in their fresh fish section. At my grocery store, I typically see US, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico, etc. Several countries are represented. I definitely don't ever remember seeing a preponderance of Chinese fish even at my local run-of-the-mill chain grocery store.

 

[NotUrsula]

Interesting comments on Tilapia. They are not poop eaters by the way, they are commonly planted in waterways clogged with vegetation to clear it. Although lobster, crab, oysters and clams are poop eaters, and taste just fine to me.

Never really noticed a distinct flavor to Tilapia, which may explain why they are marketed as the mildest tasting fish you can buy. They were a fish commonly mentioned in the bible, and have been a food staple in the Middle East for centuries. They are a fast growing fish, so they are less likely to pickup up contaminants from water. The bad news is, they really aren't a good source of Omega 3, which is why many folks are eating more fish.

I'm not sure what a "Poop eater" is supposed to be, but adult tilapia are omnivores -- so if there is ruminant excrement in the water, they probably will eat it, seeing a how it has quite a lot of vegetable protein in it. Quite frankly, adult tilapia will eat just about darn near anything that doesn't eat them first. The ones that don't have a discernible flavor are mostly tank-raised on soy meal and algae. The ones used to clear canals very definitely taste -- and smell, when raw -- of mud.

I sure won't argue that they are not sustainable, though -- because that they certainly are, probably one of the most sustainable fish species in existence.

 

[dadddio]

Just out of curiosity, why are we avoiding Chinese fish?

 

[Sabeking]

Just out of curiosity, why are we avoiding Chinese fish?

Don't quote me on it but I think it has to do with a higher level of pollutants, metals, mercury in their water.

 

[Sanchez]

Just out of curiosity, why are we avoiding Chinese fish?

Because you get hungry again one hour after eating them.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I'm not sure what a "Poop eater" is supposed to be, but adult tilapia are omnivores -- so if there is ruminant excrement in the water, they probably will eat it, seeing a how it has quite a lot of vegetable protein in it. Quite frankly, adult tilapia will eat just about darn near anything that doesn't eat them first. The ones that don't have a discernible flavor are mostly tank-raised on soy meal and algae. The ones used to clear canals very definitely taste -- and smell, when raw -- of mud.

I sure won't argue that they are not sustainable, though -- because that they certainly are, probably one of the most sustainable fish species in existence.

I do believe that the name "poop eater" got coined due to the fish food they were/are given in the past or now because who knows?

 

[Janepod]

Don't quote me on it but I think it has to do with a higher level of pollutants, metals, mercury in their water.

This, plus antibiotics, and some chemicals that are banned in the U.S.

Good article:
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/10/fda-barely-inspects-imported-seafood

In particular,

"Three different banned drugs were found in the shrimp: enrofloxacin, an antibiotic not allowed in animals that Americans eat because it damages the immune system; chloramphenicol, suspected to cause cancer in humans; and confirmed carcinogen nitrofuranzone, which was outlawed in the US 40 years ago."

When in doubt, we do without.

 

[tasha99]

Just out of curiosity, why are we avoiding Chinese fish?

I avoid food from China because of their world renowned quality control.

 

[shortbun]

We always get wild either marked from the grocery or we shop at Whole Foods. Also, I carry a bunch quick frozen home from our vacation in the Outer Banks. I was just watching a show saying our ocean fish has too many minerals that are making deposits of plaq in our brains, ala Alzheimers. Thinking I would begin eating less fish and also ditch my multiple vitamin that is loaded with minerals.