FoodieTots.com

whole foods frozen salmon, originally uploaded by foodietots.

No sooner had I selected salmon as my March ingredient, than I began to read the scary news of the threatened Chinook salmon run in California. Sure enough, last week came the official notice that salmon season is closed for the year. Apparently oblivious to the irony, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency over the situation – never mind that while there is plenty of blame to go around, it is indisputable that the states’ diversion of water to farm land and Southern California is a significant factor. Last year for the toddler’s west coast birthday party, on the Oregon coast, we had grilled fish tacos with Coho salmon caught fresh that morning. Best and freshest fish I’ve ever tasted – also endangered and facing fishing limits this year.

Over at SurelyYouNest, MamaBird shares her dilemma over ordering fish when dining out. I usually order salmon, which is my favorite but also easily identified as wild. For a more thorough guide to which types of fish are safe to eat, now that even Alaskan salmon is going to be available in limited quantities and much more costly, see this handy guide from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (We got the pocket-reference in our DVD of Happy Feet – which I thought was a clever tie-in.) You can even bookmark the mobile site on your PDA to access it while you shop!

(And please, please don’t be tempted to eat farmed salmon! Off my soap-box now…)

Up next, first market report of the season, and the April ingredient, beans!