DEAR DAME EVELYN , I don't usually give unsolicited ideas or opinions – so let me know if I'm just bothering you.

I have an idea. I'd really like to see a list of good fish and bad fish. I've been hearing how overfished certain fish stocks are – but when I go to a restaurant, I know I can't have the Chilean sea bass, but can I have the orange roughy?

Hey, while I was writing this I found this link: www.calacademy.org/research/aquatic/seafood_guide/index_print_friend.html.

Is it more environmentally sound to eat farmed fish or wild?

Gone Fishin'

Chum,

Of course you are not bothering me. If you were bothering me, I would ... I would ... I would prefer not to say. Naturally you are not Sir Evelyn; I am aware of that fact and draw a deep, calming breath.

Dame Evelyn is not without misgivings about technology, but in the interest of sustainable fishing, I did direct my browser to the site you mention and found it well organized and succinct. The answer to your restaurant question (which I suspect you already know) is that you can have neither Chilean sea bass nor orange roughy. But you can have all sorts of other delightful things, from oysters – if farmed – to halibut to Dungeness crab, if in season. It is important to know where seafood is coming from, whether you are buying it at a market or ordering it in a restaurant. If you don't know, ask, and if they don't know, move on. It is also important to be aware that aquaculture – the farming of seafood – can go both ways, as it were. Salmon farming is a disaster on a number of levels, for example – never, ever have farmed salmon, and please do chastise those who offer it – whereas oyster farming can actually improve the environment. In addition, the farming of tilapia and striped bass, two widely available fish, is environmentally neutral. And an alert to you sushi lovers: yellowfin, or ahi, is fine to eat or buy (abundant, well managed, dolphin friendly), but bluefin, or maguro, is in trouble. Let our sushi menus so reflect.

Solicitously,

E. G.-S.