Bike for Sustainable Seafood

Mari with her catch of the day.

If I’m going to eat fish, I want sustainable.  And I want to know that my children will have healthy waterways, and a healthy planet in general. Biking is another way to help.

As many Seafood Watch participants already recognize:

Bicycling helps keep oil runoff out of the Monterey Bay!

Support the Seafood Watch restaurants that are also in the HER Helmet Thursdays project.  As of April 14,  2012, there were 23 Monterey County restaurants in the Seafood Watch project.  Of those, 43% (10) are also in HER Helmet Thursdays.

Below is the list of these special Seafood Watch-HER Helmet Thursdays participants.  Their HHT listings, besides including their websites, tell you the percentage of discount they offer to cyclists on Thursdays. The listings provide bike-there tips too.

Biking helps the environment in many ways beyond water pollution.  Check out this City of Monterey transportation page to learn more.

Restaurants in HER Helmet Thursdays and Seafood Watch

1. Café Fina, Monterey – Café Fina HER Helmet Thursdays listing
2. Domenico’s on the Wharf, Monterey – Domenico’s on the Wharf  HER Helmet Thursdays listing
3. Favaloro’s Big Night Bistro, Pacific Grove – Favaloro’s Big Night Bistro HER Helmet Thursdays listing
4. Hula’s Island Grill and Tiki Room, Monterey – Hula’s Island Grill and Tiki Room HER Helmet Thursdays listing
5. Pacifica Cafe and Bar at the Embassy Suites – Pacific Cafe and Bar HER Helmet Thursdays listing
   
6. Passionfish, Pacific Grove – Passionfish HER Helmet Thursdays listing
7. Peter B’s Brewpub at the Portola Hotel and Spa, Monterey – Peter B’s Brewpub HER Helmet Thursdays listing
8. Point Pinos Grill, Pacific Grove – Point Pinos Grill HER Helmet Thursdays listing
9. Schooners Coastal Kitchen and Bar, Monterey – Schooners Coastal Kitchen and Bar HER Helmet Thursdays listing
10. Terry’s Restaurant and Lounge at the Cypress Inn, Carmel – Terry’s Restaurant and Lounge at the Cypress Inn HER Helmet Thursdays listing (and The Cypress Inn’s HER Helmet Thursdays listing, too!)

If you have a favorite Seafood Watch restaurant that isn’t yet in the R/restaurants category of  HER Helmet Thursdays, invite them!

Monterey County leaders in wise stewardship

The Seafood Watch program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is concerned for present and future generations.  Seafood Watch project participants are committed to serving sustainable seafood.

And if you eat fish and seafood, you can take it an extra mile by helping to keep oil runoff out of the Monterey Bay and other waterways, by biking.

How to get the discount

To get the HER Helmet Thursdays discount, bike or bike-and-ride to an HHT spot on a Thursday–morning, afternoon, or night.  Check date restrictions (federal holidays and some Monterey County special event weeks may apply).

Tips on biking there

Besides the bike-there tips in the individual HER Helmet Thursdays participants’ listings, bike-friendly Monterey County has more tips, for visitors and locals.  Check out the Tips for Bicycling Monterey County guide on this site.

Happy pedaling–and happy dining!

Other types of HER Helmet Thursdays venues

You can also support all HHT participants! The HER Helmet Thursdays project includes a wide variety of H-E-R spots, and all of them are benefiting HER/Mother Earth by encouraging more people to bike.

HER?  H= hotels/other lodging;  E= educational attractions and entertainment venues; and R=restaurants and related places–including coffee shops and wineries.

You’ll find a clickable map, pocket guide, and other information on the HER Helmet Thursdays All Participants page.  To learn more about the project, which is also appropriate for other geographic locations, read the Goals and Overview of the HER Helmet Thursdays project.

Wineries in HER Helmet Thursdays who are Cooking for Solutions

There are wineries in the HER Helmet Thursdays project that also participated in the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Cooking for Solutions 2011 conference. Check these out:

Heller Estate Organic Vineyards – Heller Estate Organic Vineyards HER Helmet Thursdays listing – and the Heller bike-to-work winemaker, Rich Tanguay

Scheid Vineyards – Scheid Vineyards, Greenfield and Scheid Vineyards, Carmel HER Helmet Thursdays listings

Monterey County beach tips

If you’re a beach-lover, see Bike to the Beach as well.  

Below, Mari Lynch fishing at Nelson Lake, Yosemite National Park

Cooking for Solutions

Cooking for Solutions?  Find more info about the May 20-22, 2011 conference using this hashtag on Twitter:  #cfs11

More about sustainable seafood

The National Geographic offers these guidelines on How to Eat Seafood Responsibly.

As reported by Juliet Eilperin in the Washington Post,   in 2012, the United States will become the first country to impose catch limits for every species it manages.  Read Eiperin’s story, “U.S. tightens fishing policies, setting 2012 catch limits for all managed species.”]