For Health and Flavor, More People Turn to Fish

Today, restaurant customers don't have to go out of their way to find grilled salmon or fried clam strips: A recent survey from Restaurants & Institutions trade magazine says almost half of restaurant operators have at least one seafood dish on the menu. Since 1980, Americans have doubled the amount of fish steaks and fillets they eat to more than 4 pounds per person, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), which documents fish consumption. At the same time, they are eating fewer fish sticks. That consumption is down from about 2 pounds per person 15 years ago to less than a pound in 2003. Americans are becoming more savvy about eating seafoods. However, while doctors and nutritionists tout the benefits of more fish in the diet, customers may be unaware that some sea creatures are in danger of being over fished, which could mean fewer seafood options at higher prices. Grouper, for example, is mostly caught in the Gulf of Mexico and is one fish scientists worry about because grouper reproduce for only a short period of time and take longer to replenish themselves. Seafood-lovers can learn more about which fish groups are dwindling and which seafood gets the green light -- trap-caught shrimp, tilapia and Pacific halibut -- at the Audubon Society's Living Ocean Web site, seafood.audubon.org. http://www.theledger.com