We all have books and magazines we’d like to read while relaxing on the beach this summer. But before you start that new thriller or romance novel, try this quick read -- Seafood Solutions: A Chef’s Guide to Sourcing Sustainable Seafood. No, you won’t find it on Amazon, but it’s a free download from Chefs Collaborative. This non-profit culinary organization works with chefs, restaurateurs and others in the food community around the country to encourage the use of local and sustainable food supplies.

Since the green and eco-friendly movement is still the hot trend right now, restaurant owners and chefs may be focusing on other areas of their restaurants or food supplies. But according to Chefs Collaborative, 70% of seafood purchases in the U.S. are made in the food service industry. So with a statistic like that, it’s easy to see that if more and more restaurants choose to purchase sustainable seafood, it could make quite a difference.

Sustainable seafood, as the “Guide” states, "refers to fish and shellfish caught or farmed with the consideration for the long-term viability of individual marine species, fishing communities, and the oceans’ ecological balances as a whole." For fish or shellfish to be considered "sustainable," it must come from well-managed fisheries or aquaculture operations that maintain a strong marine ecosystem and a healthy population of the species.

"More and more people are aware that the supply of seafood in our oceans is getting depleted because of pollution and overfishing," explained Melissa Kogut, executive director of Chefs Collaborative. "Customers are savvier now and more of them are asking for sustainable fish." Working closely with a seafood purveyor is key, Kogut stressed. "Our focus is on chefs. We want chefs to ask their purveyors questions. Only then will purveyors feel pressure to provide sustainable fish and seafood to the industry."

This is the second edition of the guide, the first published in 2000. "This one is dramatically different because the information is constantly changing," she added. "Plus, we get better at finding the information to help chefs purchase sustainable seafood." One of the biggest additions to the newest guide is the "Take Ten Steps to Serving Sustainable Seafood," which lists out ways chefs and restaurateurs can start the process. "There’s a lot of detailed info in the guide, but if they read anything, we want them to read the 10 steps," Kogut noted. "We invite them to do one step at a time. We don’t expect perfection, but we want people to feel motivated, so that when the get one down then they’ll do another one."

Some of the 10 steps include asking purveyors questions, thinking locally and seasonally, and supporting small-scale fisheries. Another step includes substituting some fish that’s overfished or threatened of becoming endangered. The guide offers some suggestions for substituting, like using black sea bass instead of red snapper, or hook-caught haddock in place of overfished Atlantic cod. "Chefs need to experiment and look at the texture and flavor of substitutes," explained Kogut.

No one expects overnight decisions to switch vendors or eliminate every seafood item on your menu until you find other options--it’s no different than changing out light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs or starting a recycling program. Small steps, education and informative decisions make big differences.

Seafood Solutions: A Chef’s Guide to Sourcing Sustainable Seafood can be downloaded free at www.chefscollaborative.org by simply supplying the organization with your e-mail address.