bar­gain shark steaks at Metro fish counter — pic by Ivy Knight

Sustainable Seafood

According to “Bottomfeeder” author ‚Taras Grescoe the pol­lu­tion, ridicu­lously harm­ful fish­ing meth­ods and our insa­tiable appetite for frozen fish sticks are join­ing together for a big show­stop­per in 2048. He writes, “A paper in the esteemed jour­nal Nature reports that 90 per­cent of the pop­u­la­tion of top-level preda­tors –among them tuna, sharks, mar­lin and sword­fish– have already been caught. A team of ecol­o­gists makes head­lines world­wide by pre­dict­ing that, at their cur­rent rate of exploita­tion, all major fish stocks will col­lapse within our life­times; the world, in other words, will run out wild seafood by the year 2048.”

The ocean floor is a war zone where the free for all is result­ing in pos­si­ble extinc­tion for some species. How do you know what fish and shell­fish pop­u­la­tion is being sus­tain­ably main­tained and man­aged? There are no quick, easy answers but there are some guide­lines to fol­low. Ocean Wise and Sea Choice are two orga­ni­za­tions that have the most up to date info­ma­tion on sus­tain­able choices when it comes to fish for din­ner. They not only look at over­fish­ing but also focus on the harm caused by habi­tat dam­age and bycatch.

All about Ocean Wise

http://www.vanaqua.org/oceanwise/sustainable-seafood.html

arti­cle about sus­tain­able fish­ing and more from Taras Grescoe

http://www.gremolata.com/Articles/176-The-Dead-Sea-Taras-Grescoes-Bottomfeeder.aspx