Although the international demand for seafood is constantly increasing, many of the types of fish consumed are overfished. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the United States imports over 80 percent of fish to meet consumer demands. Fisheries that are overfish or farm in with environmentally unfriendly practices are greatly contributing to harm caused to wildlife and their habitats.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has created a program called Seafood Watch that works to sustain healthy ocean ecosystems by creating recommendation criteria for seafood purchased by businesses and consumers. The University prefers purchasing fish that meet the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines. In the 2012-2013 academic year, 55 percent of seafood purchases met these guidelines.

All of the seafood that met the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines was US sourced. Fifty percent of salmon, 80 percent of shrimp, 80 percent of fish like cod and haddock, 85 percent of tilapia, and 100 percent of squid purchased met the guidelines.