Knowing when to eat certain seafood doesn’t just ensure you’re getting the highest quality fish possible — it also helps keep ocean populations protected from being overeaten. At Lolo’s Seafood Shack in New York City, their chefs try to serve up fresh, seasonal seafood to maintain quality standards and play their part in conservation efforts.

To help you buy the best fish possible without requiring you to support over-fishing, this seafood restaurant has put together a quick guide for purchasing and consuming seafood based on the time of year:

• Spring: Many species of fish spawn from March through June, making spring one of the off-seasons for seafood harvesting. Herring, prawns, crabs, and trout are a few species that usually do not breed during this season, making them ideal seafood items to consume.
• Summer: Atlantic bream, haddock, and sea bass, along with crabs and shrimp, are usually in abundance during the summer months. They’re neither breeding nor storing up their reserves for winter, making them ripe for eating.
• Fall: Late fall is one of the best times to pick up lobster, flounder, mullet, and sole. As ocean temperatures drop and food reserves are in abundance, fish start to prepare for the winter months, which means they’re fattening up and eating voraciously.
• Winter: Some of the only seafood to avoid eating during the winter months in the United States are trout, cod, pollack, and bass. Shellfish like scallops, clams, and mussels are perfect for this period.

Lolo’s Seafood Shack is always following this guide as a way to keep their food fresh and delicious. If you have any questions regarding the seasonality of certain species of fish or shellfish, feel free to ask them today by calling (646) 649-3356! Visit them online to view their menu.