So I'm in the middle of reading the fantastic book Bottomfeeder by Taras Grescoe about the ongoing collapse and gross mismanagement of global fisheries. It's a very eye opening and conscious raising book and I recommend it highly. We also recently had a talk from a guy about to finish a phd in marine environmental management at work who also talked about the same collapse and issue, however I recently also read the book Ten Commitments; Reshaping the Lucky Country's Environment - a collection of essays from Australia's leading scientists about the things that need to happen in their respective fields. In the essay on fisheries (in Australia), Professor Robert Kearney (who is exceptionally qualified - Emeritus Professor of Fisheries at the University of Canberra, Chairman of the Research Committees of the Hermon Slade Foundation and the Australian and Pacific Scientific Foundation, as well has having served on a host of other boards and commissions) argues that fishing is not a serious threat to the environment (in general) and that the problems with the marine environment are the issues of mining and exploration, run off and sewage, other pollution, climate change and coastal development.
He makes a very valid point, which is even essentially backed up a lot by Bottomfeeder which is that when scientists evaluate dramatically declining fish stock and list the reasons for the threats, the only thing that politicians do is introduce or shrink quotes for catching that fish - even if fishing wasn't even listed by the scientists as a threat.
He also claims that no fish has ever gone extinct, or is under serious threat from extinction from over fishing.
Of course that's probably simplistic. Reductions in genetic diversity lead to an increase of the threat of disease. Reductions in keystone species and top level predators can dramatically change ecosystems leading to new threats and competition to already vulnerable species. It may be true that at no point has a fisherman pulled up the very last of a species of fish, but the actions of fishing may still have indirectly lead to species extinction (and has certainly led to so called "effective extinction" - where a species that was once found in large numbers is so reduced that the ecosystem changes to resemble one without the presence of that species).
It's also important to note, as Daniel Pauly (fisheries scientist from the University of British Columbia) says, changing fishing practices is the easiest way in which we can improve the health of the oceans.
I think it's also important to view the issue as two separate issues - environmental sustainability and commercial sustainability. It may be correct that fishing does offer any serious environmental threats (in general) but it certainly doesn't appear to be at all commercially sustainable at the moment.
I find myself becoming very interested in this subject, perhaps because of the conflicting opinions, the fact that I love seafood and knew almost nothing in detail about it until about 6 weeks ago. I'd love to hear some more discussion about the issue and see what other people think. I'm also going to try and research the topic more fully and I'll post up information about what I read (probably just journal references and a quick summary).
Fish
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Kyle Hewitt
- something more funny
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- Joined: 31 Jul 2005 11:06
So I have made some progress on this but haven't really posted any.
Anyway I was just reading this blog, and thought I'd share the link since it's fairly informative and tends to offer links to primary sources as well, which is the only credible information you can afford not to be skeptical about on the internet.
http://blogfishx.blogspot.com/
At the moment I eat;
Sardines, mackerel, fish I catch myself, oysters.
I don't eat
Salmon, tuna, octopus, shark, cod, anchovies, farmed prawns/shrimp.
I don't think I've had the opportunity to eat any other fish/seafood so I've left off stuff that I would or wouldn't eat if I had the chance but haven't had to make that choice.
Anyway I was just reading this blog, and thought I'd share the link since it's fairly informative and tends to offer links to primary sources as well, which is the only credible information you can afford not to be skeptical about on the internet.
http://blogfishx.blogspot.com/
At the moment I eat;
Sardines, mackerel, fish I catch myself, oysters.
I don't eat
Salmon, tuna, octopus, shark, cod, anchovies, farmed prawns/shrimp.
I don't think I've had the opportunity to eat any other fish/seafood so I've left off stuff that I would or wouldn't eat if I had the chance but haven't had to make that choice.
-
Kyle Hewitt
- something more funny
- Posts: 1273
- Joined: 31 Jul 2005 11:06
-
Kyle Hewitt
- something more funny
- Posts: 1273
- Joined: 31 Jul 2005 11:06
Two interesting articles;
Seafood Fraud in the USA - Given the nature of the seafood industry, this article probably applies fairly equally to all Western countries. It's important to note that even if you live in a coastal village that has a centuries old fishing industry, the majority of fish you can buy will be caught internationally, not locally.
Estimates of worldwide illegal fishing
Seafood Fraud in the USA - Given the nature of the seafood industry, this article probably applies fairly equally to all Western countries. It's important to note that even if you live in a coastal village that has a centuries old fishing industry, the majority of fish you can buy will be caught internationally, not locally.
Estimates of worldwide illegal fishing
Marlin is definitely on my list of fish to avoid for two reasons.
1. It's way over fished, and current levels of catch are predicted to lead to its extinction or functional extinction.
2. Like all large predator fish, it accumulates dangerous levels of toxins such as mercury, PCBs, dioxins, furans etc. (which include the most dangerous substances we know of - for example there is no safe level for dioxins. If there is a measurable level then it can potentially have a range of negative health effects including cancer and birth defects in future children).
Returning to point 1 for a moment, there is a serious problem in ocean ecology with the reducing levels of top predators. Pretty much all the top predators have fallen significantly in global numbers. This is resulting in significant changes to the relationships between species and a wide variety of negative effects. Not eating the top predators (shark, marlin, swordfish etc.) is probably the most important thing people can do for the health of the marine environment and far more important than avoiding seafood like orange roughy or whale - which fill niches in the ecosystem that can easily be replaced.
This isn't just a problem with marine ecology, but also terrestrial ecology - not that we eat many land based top predators, but habitat destruction, climate change and hunting have lead to most top predators around the world being endangered, extinct or functionally extinct. In my state of Australia the three top predators are all now extinct or functionally extinct (Tasmanian tiger, Tasmanian devil, Tasmanian subspecies of the wedge tailed eagle). Amongst other impacts (such as a significant rise in snake numbers, which are deadly), this has resulted significant increases in the number of foxes, which out compete native animals and may ensure that the remaining numbers of devils and wedge tailed eagles can never significantly increase, and a significant increase in grazing animals, which is resulting in overgrazing of native grasslands as well as commercial crops. This is resulting in possibly permanent changes to biomes and significant reductions in many different species. A probable outcome is a massive reduction in biodiversity - 10 species or more could become extinct this century as a direct result of the losses of those 3 species. The situation in marine ecology is essentially the same, but on a much larger scale.
1. It's way over fished, and current levels of catch are predicted to lead to its extinction or functional extinction.
2. Like all large predator fish, it accumulates dangerous levels of toxins such as mercury, PCBs, dioxins, furans etc. (which include the most dangerous substances we know of - for example there is no safe level for dioxins. If there is a measurable level then it can potentially have a range of negative health effects including cancer and birth defects in future children).
Returning to point 1 for a moment, there is a serious problem in ocean ecology with the reducing levels of top predators. Pretty much all the top predators have fallen significantly in global numbers. This is resulting in significant changes to the relationships between species and a wide variety of negative effects. Not eating the top predators (shark, marlin, swordfish etc.) is probably the most important thing people can do for the health of the marine environment and far more important than avoiding seafood like orange roughy or whale - which fill niches in the ecosystem that can easily be replaced.
This isn't just a problem with marine ecology, but also terrestrial ecology - not that we eat many land based top predators, but habitat destruction, climate change and hunting have lead to most top predators around the world being endangered, extinct or functionally extinct. In my state of Australia the three top predators are all now extinct or functionally extinct (Tasmanian tiger, Tasmanian devil, Tasmanian subspecies of the wedge tailed eagle). Amongst other impacts (such as a significant rise in snake numbers, which are deadly), this has resulted significant increases in the number of foxes, which out compete native animals and may ensure that the remaining numbers of devils and wedge tailed eagles can never significantly increase, and a significant increase in grazing animals, which is resulting in overgrazing of native grasslands as well as commercial crops. This is resulting in possibly permanent changes to biomes and significant reductions in many different species. A probable outcome is a massive reduction in biodiversity - 10 species or more could become extinct this century as a direct result of the losses of those 3 species. The situation in marine ecology is essentially the same, but on a much larger scale.
Here's a really good article about the fish crisis and solutions to it;
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/finding_fish/
I often read Jennifer Jacquet's blog and have to say, although I eat fish a few times a week at the moment, that completely cutting out seafood from our diets may be something we should be doing.
I also recently watched the documentary Sharkwater;
http://www.sharkwater.com/
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggtxA4wuXzY[/youtube]
Which I think is available online for free and everybody really should check out because it's amazing, beautiful and a warning we need to heed.
I've now started reading the book Seasick by Alanna Mitchell;
http://www.alannamitchell.com/seasick.html
I like this book a lot because it tries to look at the big picture of the ocean health and its implications - which is a much bigger and more complicated issue than the collapsing fisheries. Indeed perhaps worrying about fishing and what fish we eat is a tiny and insignificant issue compared with what appears to be rapidly changing oceans.
I've been learning a little about the oceans and how important marine life is for life a lot in geology too.
My impression at the moment is that protecting our oceans is the most important thing we could be doing, and that we may have already failed.
In terms of weight, the oceans are 500 times heavier than the atmosphere, and the contents of the atmosphere is mostly because of the processes that occur in the oceans. Both have a massive impact on the other, but life outside of the oceans (except for humans) doesn't really have a particularly significant impact on the oceans on a whole. On the other hand, if life died out from the oceans, life would almost immediately die out globally, and even fairly small changes in ocean life and ecology can have massive impacts on terrestrial life.
Perhaps our greatest concern with climate change should not be how it will impact on marine life, and what consequences this will have for us.
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/finding_fish/
I often read Jennifer Jacquet's blog and have to say, although I eat fish a few times a week at the moment, that completely cutting out seafood from our diets may be something we should be doing.
I also recently watched the documentary Sharkwater;
http://www.sharkwater.com/
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggtxA4wuXzY[/youtube]
Which I think is available online for free and everybody really should check out because it's amazing, beautiful and a warning we need to heed.
I've now started reading the book Seasick by Alanna Mitchell;
http://www.alannamitchell.com/seasick.html
I like this book a lot because it tries to look at the big picture of the ocean health and its implications - which is a much bigger and more complicated issue than the collapsing fisheries. Indeed perhaps worrying about fishing and what fish we eat is a tiny and insignificant issue compared with what appears to be rapidly changing oceans.
I've been learning a little about the oceans and how important marine life is for life a lot in geology too.
My impression at the moment is that protecting our oceans is the most important thing we could be doing, and that we may have already failed.
In terms of weight, the oceans are 500 times heavier than the atmosphere, and the contents of the atmosphere is mostly because of the processes that occur in the oceans. Both have a massive impact on the other, but life outside of the oceans (except for humans) doesn't really have a particularly significant impact on the oceans on a whole. On the other hand, if life died out from the oceans, life would almost immediately die out globally, and even fairly small changes in ocean life and ecology can have massive impacts on terrestrial life.
Perhaps our greatest concern with climate change should not be how it will impact on marine life, and what consequences this will have for us.
Another movie that is probably worth watching. I haven't seen it yet, but will soon 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWB8KJ1aIJ4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWB8KJ1aIJ4[/youtube]