Riverhead - For many people, roasted turkeys or standing rib roasts may be the star of their holiday dinners, but for others, especially those who celebrate the Christmas Eve "Feast of the Seven Fishes," fish has become a popular item on many menus. But unless we make careful seafood choices, there might not be enough fish to eat in coming years.

"Many seafood populations are declining because of over fishing and habitat destruction, and farmed seafood is often subject to the same treatment that land animals are - antibiotics, growth hormones, and food that they don't eat in the wild," explains Atlantic Marine World Aquarium General Manager, Bryan DeLuca. "It can be difficult and confusing to keep track of what kinds of seafood are okay to eat."

Finding these kinds of seafood, or those that are sustainable, is easier now that Blue Ocean Institute has created lists of good and bad shopping choices and maintains them on their website and in downloadable seafood guides.

"Our seafood program helps consumers discover the connection between a healthy ocean, fishing, and seafood," says Blue Ocean Institute founder and author of more than 100 articles and three books, Carl Safina. "We developed the first comprehensive seafood analysis and ranking methodology with our Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood. Blue Ocean's color-coded rankings for popular seafood are determined by evaluating species' life history, abundance in the wild, habitat concerns, and catch method or farming system. We also include health advisory information. Our peer-reviewed work is transparent, authoritative, and easy for consumers to understand and use."

In addition to the already very successful products Blue Ocean Institute currently offers (Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood, Guide to Ocean Friendly Sushi, and its popular FishPhone text-messaging service), they recently made available recipes through their new Green Chefs, Blue Ocean program. This program strives to endow the next generation of great chefs with the knowledge and inspiration to practice seafood sustainability and promote ocean conservation.

Visit Blue Ocean's website at www.blueocean.org to find tasty recipes for the upcoming holidays using ocean-friendly seafood, complete with helpful cooking tips, and personal stories illustrating sustainability as a humanitarian issue, an ecological matter, and an opportunity for culinary enjoyment from renowned chef and sustainability advocate, Barton Seaver.

But first, enjoy the following festive recipe from Barton Seaver:

Calamari With A Basil Walnut Pesto
Ingredients:
 • 1 lb. fresh, "dirty" and small calamari
 • 2 cloves of garlic, 1 passed over a microplane
 • 3 T olive oil
 • 1/2 lb new potatoes
 • 1/4 cup green beans, snipped
 • 3 heads frisee, trimmed and chopped
 • 2 large handfuls of basil leaves
 • 1/4 cup of walnuts toasted (or substitute pine nuts or almonds)
 • Salt

Directions:
For the calamari: Ask your fishmonger to clean the squid, leaving only bodies and tentacles. "Dirty" is a market term referring to squid with skin still on. Marinate squid in 1 T olive oil, 1 clove of microplaned garlic and 1 pinch of salt. Grill calamari on high heat over charcoal about 1 minute per side.

For the basil pesto: Put basil, second garlic clove, walnuts and 2 T olive oil in blender and puree until smooth.

For the potatoes: Dice potatoes. In cold water bring to a boil for one minute and strain.

To serve: While cooking calamari, reheat potatoes with green beans in a pan on side of grill. Toss warm potatoes and green beans with frisee, salt and basil pesto. Toss to mix well. Place grilled calamari on top. Serves four.

About Atlantis Marine World Aquarium
Atlantis Marine World (AMW) opened in Riverhead, on June 15, 2000, as the first large-scale Aquarium to open in New York State in more than 35 years. Situated on 3.2 acres along the Peconic River, AMW is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (closed December 25). For more information go to www.atlantismarineworld.com.

About Blue Ocean Institute
Founded in 2003 by MacArthur Fellow Dr. Carl Safina (www.carlsafina.org) and Mercédès Lee, Blue Ocean Institute developed the first sustainable seafood guide (and made it scientifically transparent) and forged a significant, rapidly expanding sustainable seafood movement. Blue Ocean develops conservation solutions that enlighten personal choices, instill hope and inspire people to take action in a growing effort to restore living abundance in the ocean. Please visit www.blueocean.org for program details.