Take advantage of ocean-friendly seafood* that’s freshest and available at this time of year.
- Bay Scallops (Farmed is best; Wild ‘Giant Sea Scallops’ are good.)
- Dungeness Crab (‘Dungeness’ is best; U.S. ‘King’, ‘Snow’, and imitation are good. Avoid imported ‘King’.) In the San Francisco area, the crab season begins in mid-November and can extend until June. However, most of the biggest, sweetest, freshest local Dungeness Crab is brought in by the end of December. In Oregon and Washington though, they fish longer into the spring while in British Columbia, crab’s peak season begins in April.
- Herring (Atlantic and Lake herring are good. Atlantic herring is available all year as a canned product.)
- Lobster (U.S. ‘Spiny’ is best; American/Maine is good. Avoid Caribbean ‘Spiny’.)
- Mackerel (‘King’ and ‘Spanish’ are best, but limit consumption due to elevated levels of mercury.)
- Monterey Prawns (Oregon ‘Pink Shimp’ is best; U.S./Canadian shrimp is good. Avoid imported shrimp.)
- Petrale Sole (Wild Pacific sole is good. Avoid wild Atlantic.)
- Oysters (Farmed is best; wild oysters from U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and Canada are good but limit consumption due to mercury and other contaminants.)
- Sardines (U.S. Pacific is best)
- Steelhead Trout or Rainbow Trout (U.S. farmed is best because it’s farmed in an ecologically responsible way.)
- Sturgeon Roe, also known as caviar (U.S. farmed is good. Avoid imported wild-caught due to high levels of mercury and other contaminants.)
*Per the Monterey Bay Aquarium “Seafood Watch”: By purchasing fish caught or farmed using environmentally friendly practices, you’re supporting healthy, abundant oceans.
