Seafood is one of the only wild foods (aside from mushrooms) that Westerners eat with any regularity, and demand for it is only increasing. This talk discusses the rise of consumer-based initiatives to save the world's marine life, such as seafood wallet cards and the Marine Stewardship Council's eco-label for wild-caught fish. The principle that consumers should make a point of choosing products that reflect their ideals is a good one, but there are also challenges with initiatives that focus on end consumers'particularly because they ask us to engage as consumers rather than as concerned citizens and relate to fish as a commodity rather than as wildlife.
Jennifer Jacquet is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at NYU. She is an environmental scientist interested in human cooperation, with specific interests in overfishing and climate change. Her book about the evolution, function, and future of the use of social disapproval, Is Shame Necessary?, is due out in early 2015. She formerly wrote the guilty planet blog at Scientific American, and contributes to Edge.org.