The Fish You Should (and Shouldn't) Be Eating Right Now

Charles Crust, AlamyYou don't have to be an eco-activist to do your part for the environment. Sometimes the best way to live green is to change the small habits for the better – like being more selective of the seafood you eat.

Sustainable seafood is fish caught in such a manner that the species' population and habitat, as well as the other creatures and habitats around it, aren't adversely affected. Unfortunately, many fishing practices today do just the opposite – decimating sea creature populations, destroying their ecosystems, and polluting the environment.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch has compiled an extensive list on which seafood is the best to eat, and which you should stay as far away from as possible. You can print out a handy pocket version of the guide to always know when out and about what seafood is best in your region, or even download the iPhone app.

Here are some of the best and worst seafood options that you could be serving up for dinner, as noted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

BEST: Wild Alaskan Salmon

Alaska salmon freshwater habitats are kept relatively clean, and the salmon do not face challenges they would face in other places like California and the Pacific Northwest, like damming or deforestation. Wild-caught fish do not inflict damage on the environment the way farmed salmon does, which pollutes the ocean with waste. Alaska salmon is known by many names. Look for coho, sockeye, king, pink, red, and sake on the market, but always make sure to check that it's been wild-caught.

WORST: Farmed Salmon

Most farmed salmon you'll find these days is Atlantic salmon. According to Seafood Watch, the amount of food needed to raise farmed salmon is one of the primary concerns, as around three pounds of wild fish are needed just to grow a single pound of farmed salmon. The concerns don't stop there -- since the salmon are usually kept in open pens in the water, waste goes directly into the sea. Pollution, chemicals, parasites and non-native farmed fish that escape from salmon farms can all be extremely detrimental to the surrounding ecosystems and the creatures that inhabit them.

BEST: U.S Pink Shrimp

U.S. consumers love their pink shrimp, often used in salads and shrimp cocktails, making it all the more important to know which are options are the best options. Wild-caught pink shrimp from Oregon is the best option because of their population management standards. U.S. farmed shrimp is another good choice because it's raised inland in closed tanks that reduce damage to the surrounding environment. U.S. farmed freshwater prawns are also considered one of the more sustainable options, farmed in small-scale setups that use methods compatible with the prawn's biology.

WORST: Imported Shrimp

Imported shrimp, whether wild-caught or farmed, are on Seafood Watch's list to avoid due to all the pollution and habitat loss resulting from such operations. Wild-caught shrimp is usually captured in trawl nets that destroy habitats and kill everything from sea turtles to sharks and seahorses, creating more than 25% of the world's wasted catch. Most farmed shrimp comes from Asia and Latin America, where practices vary from country to country, making it hard to determine the exact environmental impact. Since U.S. farmed shrimp is held to much stricter and measurable standards, it is always a better alternative.

BEST: U.S. Farmed Catfish

U.S. farmed catfish is one of the most sustainable fish on the market thanks to the responsible practices employed. The risk of fish escaping and spreading disease to native populations is reduced by raising the catfish inland in ponds. Their mostly-vegetarian diet includes soybeans, corn and rice. Look for it on the market known as channel catfish.

WORST: Orange Roughy

Orange Roughy is more susceptible to overfishing due to its slow growth and late reproduction stage. Bottom trawling, an invasive fishing method that severly damages the seafloor, is used to catch the wild fish. Scientists think it could be decades before the populations recover due to the heavy amount of overfishing the species has experienced for decades.