Institute For The Future

Overfishing the Slimehead

There are, of course, all sorts of complex, macro causes as to why we're facing progressively depleted fisheries. A fascinating article in the Washington Post highlights a simple, subtle, and yet surprisingly critical reason why some fish stocks are disappearing: Their names were changed to sound tasty. For example, the endangered orange roughy was rarely caught or eaten before the 1970s. Back then, the roughy was known by a less appetizing name: the slimehead. Similarly, once a group of New England fishermen changed the name of the Goosefish to the Monkfish, demand for the newly named fish skyrocketed 50 percent--and the fish became endangered.

 

The effect of altering fish names is one example of how subtle cues can have big impacts on individual food choices--and bigger food systems. Another example: Menu labeling. A recent study from Kaiser Permanente found that by posting calorie counts on hospital cafeterias, people purchasing food made much healthier choices--particularly for side dishes and snack foods.

 

Similar things are happening in California restaurants. In anticipation of a law requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menus, several chains have been unveiling healthier menus with lower calorie foods, including one restaurant that lopped off more than 800 calories from its spinach and scallop salad.

 

While the efforts to relabel menus are relatively new, the profound effect of renaming fish like the slimehead suggests that something as simple as posting restaurant calorie counts may have profound influences over our food choices.