Know Your Fish: Best fish to eat and those to avoid this month

Hyderabad: As seafood consumers, we love the fish that we eat. But, over the past two decades, it has been getting harder to get the fish we love because fewer of them exist in our oceans. It is said that our demand for fish has a significant part to play in fish populations getting overfished. […]

Hyderabad: As seafood consumers, we love the fish that we eat. But, over the past two decades, it has been getting harder to get the fish we love because fewer of them exist in our oceans. It is said that our demand for fish has a significant part to play in fish populations getting overfished.

According to Know Your Fish (KYF), a voluntary initiative that works towards an ocean-friendly lifestyle, we can do our bit, not by giving up eating fish altogether but by choosing which fish to eat and when. We can give our favourite fish some rest during critical times of the year like their breeding season.

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Know Your Fish informs users of several fish that are safe to eat during a given month. The calendar caters exclusively to India’s west coast. With a chart form, marked in green and red, the calendar precisely describes the breeding cycles of fish species, so the consumer can make an informed choice.

KYF’s seafood recommendations for April are here and it says that this is the month with the highest number of avoiding choices as a lot of fishes are entering their breeding seasons.

Prefer these fish in April: Indian Oil Sardine, White Prawn, Tiger Prawn, Ladyfish, Sole Fish, Coastal Sharks, Cobia, Jacks, and Croaker.

Avoid these fish in April: Silver Pomfret, Dogfish, Kingfish, Black Pomfret, Bombay Duck, Golden Anchovy, Lobsters, Wolf Herring, Squid, Indian Salmon, Indian Mackerel, Fringescale Sardine, False Trevally, Small Prawns, Crabs, Barramundi, Cuttlefish, Groupers, Milk Shark, Barracuda, Breams, Emperor, Catfish, Ribbonfish, Yellowing Tuna, Spinycheek Grouper, Small Catfish, Other Tunas, Dolphinfish, Other Sardines, Bronze Croaker, and Skipjack Tuna.