While seafood choices at Crossroads and the other dining facilities on campus may not be completely up-to-par based on a 2006 study by the Defenders of Wildlife, there are many efforts underway to see that better options are made available to students in coming years.

Rather than offering students tuna, which may have “high mercury” levels, as cited by the Food and Drug Administration, chefs said they attempt to other types of fish that are caught from the wild.

“We’re not quite there yet, and it’s very difficult, based on our numbers,” said Crossroad Executive Chef Ida Shen.

Currently, Associate Director of Residential Dining Chuck Davies said he is planning a trip to Alaska this summer to participate in a conference of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute with the hope of bringing healthier and more sustainable seafood options to the dining commons.

Crossroads also tries to follow the recommendations of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program, an effort designed to present businesses and consumers with the information they need to make healthful seafood choices. In their Seafood Guide, fish are listed as either “best,” “good” or “avoid,” with each designation pertaining not only to levels of contaminants but also to sustainability.

Tim Fitzgerald, a marine biologist with the Oceans Program at the Environmental Defense Fund, said he believes that the best tactics for business and restaurants like Crossroads would be to increase consumer awareness of their seafood products, a business strategy that has been proven to increase sales by fostering a greater sense of trust between purveyor and consumer. He cites the examples of FishWise and Bon Appetit, two organizations with member stores in Northern California that help businesses to increase the sustainability of their products and also to increase consumer awareness of what they are purchasing and consuming. Bon Appetite in particular works with university cafeterias to promote various sustainable seafood practices.

“Fish is just inherently a little difficult for consumers to grasp because it comes from so many different places, there are so many different species, it’s caught it so many different ways and it’s farmed in so many ways,” Fitzgerald says. “Consumers are always going to feel a little bit less comfortable about seafood in that they just can’t know as much, and that’s where all these programs come in.”

-Zoe Carpou