Bonnie: I like supporting companies — like Wild Planet — that provide sustainably caught seafood and advocate the conservation of wild marine ecosystems while offering up good-tasting products.

It’s the folks at Monterey Bay Aquarium who taught me well that our worldwide fishing practices are depleting our fish populations, destroying habitats and polluting the water. And, that each of us can help turn the tide (pun intended). Monterey Bay offers downloadable pocket guides to assist you in choosing ocean-friendly seafood as part of its Seafood Watch program. A free iPhone app for this also is available.

Back to Wild Planet’s 100 percent pure albacore tuna and sea salt in its own natural juices. Seriously, there’s nothing added to the can along with the tuna — not even water — so there’s 5 ounces of tuna in every can with nothing to drain. And it tastes delicious.

This tuna is line and troll caught in the waters off the Pacific Northwest of the USA. That means the tuna is caught, one at a time, using lines, not nets. This tuna is younger, much lower in mercury (since mercury accumulates with age), and higher in baby fat than net caught tuna, making it richer in good-for-you omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, this tuna had half the mercury and six times the omega-3s compared with national brands.

Bryan: Somehow, I feel like it’s Christmas! Though we’ve been testing product after product for Bite of the Best, I’ve been waiting for this particular day for a long time. Tuna is my “go to” protein, for sure. For me, there are few meats that compare when it comes to true versatility of flavor…couple this wonderful taste with incredible nutritional value (high in protein and essential omega acids, while low in fat, cholesterol and calories) and you’ve got yourself the perfect food.

I eat tuna at least once a week. Actually, I’ll often end up eating tuna fish more like two-to-three times per week. Tuna melts, tuna salad, tuna sashimi, spicy tuna rolls; the world’s a seafood smorgasbord, and I’m enjoying the buffet. However, I’ve been warned more than a few times by my dietitian mother that I shouldn’t consume so much of it, mercury and all.

Now, I’ve always figured…I’m not a baby or a pregnant woman, so I’ll be fine. Don’t get me wrong, the idea of ingesting mercury is not enjoyable, but a sacrifice I’m willing to endure in order to enjoy a hearty lunch atop an everything bagel. Give me tuna or give me death! That being said, any product that wants to take the mercury out of my food, I’m all for!

Wild Planet is a sustainable fish company. You might be asking: “What does that mean?” Well, it means that Wild Planet “sources” its fish in different ways than larger, national brands. They actually fish for it. Wild Planet’s tuna are caught via the troll-method. The fish are younger and smaller than fish caught in the waters of the South Pacific (where the majority of supermarket-brand tuna is caught). The age and size of the troll-caught albacore allows it to have significantly higher omega-3 levels, while even more importantly, achieving lower mercury levels.

FDA tests for mercury in albacore arrived at the following comparison:

Wild Planet Wild Albacore Tuna average mercury test result: 0.17ppm vs. national brands albacore average mercury test result: 0.45ppm

While the FDA maximum allowable level of mercury is 1.0 ppm, a 0.00-ppm mercury is the true goal. Though they’re not there yet, the Wild Planet tuna fish has mercury levels that are 62 percent less than your average store brand. That’s a huge step forward.

Beyond that, this is just really great tuna fish! This albacore has a firm texture and a rich taste. Wild Planet Albacore Tuna is overly simple (a quality all too lacking in many foods). They hand pack a raw tuna steak, seasoned with a touch of sea salt, into each can. There are absolutely no added oils, no water or fillers. The tuna is cooked once, allowing it to retain all of the natural juices and omega 3 oils. Oddly, we’ve been instructed not to drain Wild Planet tuna (a quite foreign concept to me). Apparently, the juices enhance the flavor of the line-caught tuna even more!

Tuna fan? Well, this is tuna bliss…

Eric: In the overwhelming conformity of the canned fish aisle, Wild Planet Wild Albacore Tuna stands out as a welcomed addition in both corporate philosophy and taste. Albacore tuna, also known as “the chicken of the sea,” is second only to shrimp in popularity and consumption in the United States. The danger with tuna, aside from the potentially toxic levels of mercury, is the way in which it is caught. Long lining, as many of the large commercial companies do, produces “by-catch” — the unwanted fish and marine creatures caught during the commercial fishing. In the tuna industry, by-catch has led to threatened levels of dolphins, birds and other marine species.

In an effort to counter the effects of by-catch, companies such as Wild Planet have advocated for sustainable methods of fishing such as “troll-caught” and “pole and line.” It is refreshing to read about, and taste the products of, a company like Wild Planet. The price of its products might be higher than those of the commercial tuna companies, but the taste (and the company’s mission) will help remind you of why you chose to give it a try.

Wild Planet Albacore Tuna is available in the BiteoftheBest.com shop