• Buy your fish from someone to whom you can ask questions.
  Ask where the fish came from, when it generally is in season, if it was farmed or is wild.
• If you eat fish that you or someone else has caught, ALWAYS check if there is an advisory against eating the seafood.
  Contact your state department of health or check our state-by-state list of fish advisory links.
• The fish that are lowest in contaminants generally are:
  • Small in size
  • low in fat
  • species that don’t live on the bottom of waterways, like lobsters.
• Choose wild-caught instead of farmed for most species.
  Farming can have negative impacts on the environment and/or health. This is especially true for Atlantic salmon. In some cases, farmed is better than wild, or a specific method of harvesting is best. This is noted in the chart below.
• Avoid large, predatory species (like tuna and swordfish).
• Keep servings in proportion and eat different kinds of seafood from meal to meal.
  For an adult, a serving size is about 4 to 6 ounces. Serve proportionately less for a child—about 2 to 3 ounces (or one tuna fish sandwich). Try not to eat the same fish or shellfish more than once a week.
• Reduce PCBs, dioxins and some pesticides in fish and shellfish by using cooking methods that reduce fat.
  • Trim fat, skin, and any darker meat along the top or center of the fillet.
  • Remove the mustard from crabs and the tomalley from lobsters.
  • Broil, grill, bake or steam to cook the seafood. Use a pan that allows fat to drip away from the fish, such as a broiling pan or steaming basket. Avoid frying fish.
  • Avoid sauces made from liquid fish drippings or cooking water.
  • Avoid dishes that call for whole fish with internal organs intact.

  NOTE: Mercury cannot be reduced by these methods. Mercury levels are high for species listed in the Avoid column of the chart below.

• Consider reducing your consumption of fish that are overfished or raised / harvested in an environmentally questionable manner (in bold italics in chart below).
• Use the table below to choose which fish to eat and how often.
  Consider total fish consumption to make sure that overall monthly average is within limits for each category.
  
  This chart was created for children and women, the most vulnerable populations. Men can also suffer health effects from fish contaminants, but in most cases they would have to be exposed to more of the contaminants than children and fetuses to be affected. To avoid health effects, men should consider restricting the amount and types of fish in their diet to some extent.
  
  NOTE: Lists do not include all popular seafood, due to a lack of data.

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