Eating fish: Good for heart, bad for environment?

Doctors recommend a good dose of salmon or tuna in the diet because of its benefits to the heart. But is it good for the environment?

Surging demand for salmon in particular has been spurred in part by numerous studies touting the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, which are present in some kinds of fish.
A study published in June in the American Heart Association journal Circulation said a diet with liberal servings of fish, nuts and seeds rich in such nutrients can help lower a person's blood pressure. Other studies have shown benefits to eye and brain development and preventing heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and eye disorders.
Conservationists point out that while global fish stocks were getting hammered long before sushi became chic, health trends could add pressure to already vulnerable fisheries.
"Over-fishing has predated the interest in omega-3 and healthy eating. But now there are places where it is certainly going to accentuate it," said Jason Clay, vice-president of markets at the World Wildlife Fund.
“The FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organisation) estimates that by 2030 average annual per capita global consumption of fish will increase by 1.5kg and some of it will be driven by health-related demand,” he said.
For conservationists, the question is whether the latest health trend will result in salmon and other species going the same way as eastern Canada’s cod fishery, once one of the world’s richest which utterly collapsed last decade.

By Ed Stoddard