Think the Earth

Grilled hamour with rice:Creative Commons,Some Rights Reserved,Photo by pelican

The Emirates Wildlife Society in association with the World Wide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF) is holding the "Choose Wisely - Sustainable Fish Dish Challenge."This contest open to both professionals and amateurs began in April and will run until October 15th. The contest aims to raise consumer awareness for critical levels of overfishing.

The eco-conscious fish recipe will be posted on the website along with a picture and rated by online visitors. The recipe with the highest rating will be featured in UAE's sustainable fish dish cookbook.

Moreover, you will find a consumer guide on this website, which classifies 19 different local fishes into different color groups: "red - Think again! (stock is heavily overfished), orange - Good choice but there's better (stock exploited within sustainable levels), and green - Go for it! (stock is not experiencing heavy fishing pressure).Even if you don't take part in the contest, if you print this guide out and take it with you, you can be friendlier to the environment and shop in a smarter way.

According to EWS-WWF, 66% of the UAE population eat fish at least once a week. And hamour (orange spotted grouper), a local favorite, is being overfished seven times above the sustainable level. With a decline of 87-92% since 1978, it is at the top of the overfished species list.

In the UAE, 60% of total fishes caught are comprised of species that are fished above the sustainable level. EWS-WFF believe that giving consumers the correct information on the local fishes and helping them shop for fishes more consciously will be a big step towards preventing overfishing.

Not only will this contest help prevent overfishing, but it also lets you take part on a daily basis in a fun and tasty way. What recipe would you enter in the challenge?