The Mr.Goodfish program recommends a list of seafood products for each season that meet all fishing and aquaculture criteria. However, “choosing the right fish” also means knowing how to recognize a product’s quality and freshness. Here are a few tips to help you avoid mistakes at the fish counter.
To identify fresh fish, several criteria help determine its freshness: shiny skin, bright, bulging eyes, red gills, firm flesh, and a briny smell. And yes, did you know that fresh fish doesn’t smell?! It just has a briny scent, like seaweed!
- Stiff fish with a “fresh,” briny/sea-like scent
- Bright, shiny skin with clear slime/mucus
- Flesh: firm, springy, and translucent
- Clear, bright, and bulging (convex) eye
To recognize fresh shellfish and crustaceans:
For all seafood, one of the most important criteria is the smell; just like fish, a shellfish or crustacean should smell like “the sea.” If you detect a pungent odor, avoid eating it.
When making your selection at the counter, there are other ways to check if the shellfish and crustaceans are alive:
- Bivalves (cockles, scallops, clams, etc.): if the animal is alive, its muscle should contract, causing the shell to open and close
- Gastropods (whelks, periwinkles, etc.): check that the animal comes out and moves outside its shell (like a snail)
- Crustaceans (lobster, spider crab, edible crab, etc.): check for reactions and reflexes in the eyes, antennae, and legs.
