Sure, Kill The Oceans — Just Don’t Give Up That Sushi
No More Shrimp Cocktail? – A Mighty Appetite
Short of giving up seafood altogether, how do we do our part to help save the oceans?
Why “short of giving up seafood”?? See, this sort of thing just annoys the hell out of me. People who are, on some level, aware of the problem and yet refuse to actually fucking do anything about it. They’re the same crowd who say they believe global warming is real, yet refuse to give up the big SUV. I’m not saying I’m the model citizen-activist. If I were, I wouldn’t drive a car at all. (If northern Virginia were designed with pedestrians in mind — you know, with maybe some sidewalks — not driving would be a hell of a lot easier.) But, “giving up” meat and fish… It’s so simple. It doesn’t hurt you in a single way. It makes you healthier. And it’s better for everyone on the planet.
Posted by RebeccaHartong on November 30, 2006 under Uncategorized
I don’t drive – so I think I’ll continue to eat prawns hehe
Well, there is the option of eating sea farm seafood. There are some issues to watch for, but not any more than eating seafood from the open polluted ocean. Eating sea farm salmon, for example, allows the wild salmon to thrive and continue their swim-up-river spawning ways. Buying from cultured oyster beds means less chance your oysters came from massive sea dredge operations tearing up sea floor and reef.
I don’t think there are any requirements for labeling where seafood comes from. Except for tuna marked dolphin safe, do we know the rules? Whatever the case, if you can tell the difference and worry about over fishing, get the sea farm brand.
By the way, I see the article touches on some of the issues with sea farms. It’s a very cool article.
It is a cool article. And certainly sea farm foods are better for the ocean overall than wild sea food. Though, for the individual fish or squid or whatever, it’s probably a lot less pleasant living your brief life in a “sea farm” than out in the open ocean. But who knows… it’s hard to know how much awareness animals have at that level. Unlike with mammals where we know FOR SURE that factory farm life is miserable for them.
Anyway, I was mostly just in a snit over how often people simply dismiss the idea of just not eating meat at all. As though it were unthinkable. (And, I suppose, in a very real way it is for many people.)
I think the other part of Kim O’Donnel’s argument was that there IS documented health benefit to eating fish (i.e., omega-3 fatty acids reducing heart disease) that’s hard to get elsewhere. It’s not quite “Let’s find ways around depriving ourselves of something we like,” but rather “Let’s find a more sustainable way to allow people to have these nutrients.”
I still have problems with the effects of farmed sea-fish (esp. Atlantic salmon) on the oceans… we really need to be doing a lot better with that.