SEAFOOD SAFETY, QUALITY INFORMATION, HACCP
The Seafood Network Information Center (Seafood NIC) was launched in 1997 and is a portal to internet resources on seafood safety, and quality information needs of seafood processors, inspectors, researchers, importers and food educators. Seafood NIC is also designed to assist the seafood industry and regulators in implementing Seafood HACCP Procedures.
SUSTAINABILITY
NOAA Fishwatch provides easy to understand science-based facts to help consumers make smart sustainable food choices
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Act: National Standards for Sustainability
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption: Governments need to do a better job of emphasizing the benefits of eating seafood, says a report by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO)
SEAFOOD FOR HEALTH
Seafood Health Facts: Making Smart Choices. “Balancing the benefits and risks of seafood consumption” resources for healthcare providers and consumers
NOAA Fishwatch: Eating seafood, health & safety, latest research, handling tips, recipes.
About Seafood.com: Videos, recipes, how to buy & cook, health & nutrition (benefits, studies, how much should I eat?, nutrition information by species)
MERCURY IN SEAFOOD
Seafood Network Information Center on Mercury: Oregon State University
“Mercury in Commercial and Sport-caught Fish: Apples and Oranges”:
Prepared by Dr. Carl Winter (University of California Food Toxicology Extension Specialist) and Pamela Tom (California Sea Grant Seafood Network Information Center Director), this fact sheet responds to the US Geological Survey report entitled “Mercury in Fish, Bed Sediment, and Water from Streams Across the United States” and aims to distinguish and explain methylmercury consumption guidelines for commercially sold fish regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration and US EPA advisory guidelines for recreational and subsistence consumption. The FDA and EPA consumption guidelines are unique and not interchangeable. The fact sheet explains why. Bottom line…. fish is nutritious and good for you. Depending on if the fish was caught in local or ocean waters, guidelines for safe consumption are available.
MERCURY AND SELENIUM
WEBINAR: Selenium-Health Benefits of Ocean Fish Prevent Adverse Effects From Mercury: Webinar by Dr. Nicholas Ralston, Health Effects Research Program Leader, Energy & Environmental Research Center, University of North Dakota. Human and animal studies confirm that selenium, a nutrient that is naturally abundant in ocean fish, is highly effective in preventing adverse effects of methylmercury. Dr Nicholas Ralston, who leads the Health Effects Research Group at the Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D., reports that human and animal studies coincide in finding that diets that are rich in selenium prevent development of adverse effects from high mercury exposures. Therefore, the risks that have been found to accompany mercury exposures from maternal consumption of pilot whale and shark meats that contain far more mercury than selenium are not appropriate to apply to ocean fish that contain far more selenium than mercury.