Recovery knocks 21 fish species from watch list

Conservationists, fishermen and chefs are celebrating the rebound of fish that had been a mainstay of the West Coast fishing industry.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium said it has removed 21 species generally known as ground-fish from its Seafood Watch list.

The list is meant to encourage food buyers to use only fish species that are being harvested at sustainable levels.

The 21 species removed from the list typically wind up as white-fish fillets.

Jennifer Kemmerly of the aquarium says the reclassification marks the turnaround of a fishery that had been so depleted it was declared an economic disaster in 2000 by the federal government.

She credits the cooperation of conservationists, scientists, fishermen and governments for the recovery.