I had dinner at Souen last night with a couple of fellow strategists, including my vegetable-hating colleague Ivan Askwith. In the mood for fish, I surveyed my options: salmon, sea bass and – the fish of the day – fluke.

I’d had fluke before but couldn’t recall the taste or feel…whether it’s meaty or delicate, etc. Not wanting to reach for my iPhone (like several of my neighboring patrons), I asked our waitress what fluke was like. I went with the sea bass.

Had I seen this Cool Hunting post on an SMS-based app called FishPhone, I might’ve chosen differently. Developed by the Blue Ocean Institute, it provides info on safety and environmental concerns relating to seafood. You text 30644 with the word “FISH” and then the type of fish in question. Here’s what I got back from my “FISH fluke” text:



summer flounder (GREEN)

very few environmental concerns: populations have rebounded, but fishing pressure remains a concern;

HEALTH ADVISORY: High PCB

And when I entered “FISH seabass” to compare, I got:

Black Sea Bass (GREEN)

Very few env concerns;

Chilean Sea Bass (RED)

HEALTH ADVISORY: High Mercury, try striped bass or pacific halibut instead

I like the idea behind this, but I found it a bit confusing:

• The naming conventions weren’t clear (e.g. What if I didn’t know that fluke was in the flounder family?)

• The naming of colors – green and red – isn’t entirely understandable

• The health advisories are alarming(!). Choosing between “high PCB” and “high mercury” might convince me to go vegan (not really)

Souen’s macrobiotic/natural/organic/preservative-free menu left me with no serious health concerns. Yet for restaurants (like Souen) and diners (like me) who care about how food connects to our environment, the idea behind the FishPhone app is of definite value.

On the flip side, I think FishPhone would be much more useful if it described the fish itself. Yes, I want to learn about the relationship between the filet on my plate and his relatives in the ocean. But…I also want to know what sets fluke apart from sea bass in terms of taste or texture.

Something to Think About:

Whenever I Google something, curiosity takes my search in a few different directions – I’m sure your searches adopt a similar approach. I wonder…will mobile apps evolve to allow for such non-linear behavior, and does that mean we’ll be able to easily leap between applications?