I just want to second the recommendation of Grescoe's book. It brings all these issues alive in a very palpable, engaging way. (I'd call it the Omnivore's Dilemma of this issue).  

When we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium several years ago, it had an exhibit solely on why you should not eat any shrimp.  The gist was that for every pound of shrimp caught, there was ten pounds of bycatch, which was killed and thrown back into the water.  Since seeing this, my wife and I have boycotted shrimp.  The problem with avoiding shrimp when eating out is that it dominates the fish & seafood portions of menus at Asian restaurants, which makes it hard or impossible to eat fish in these places.  Canis will be happy to know that this almost always causes us to eat vegan when eating Thai or Chinese.

The recommendations for eating healthy and sustainable fish require a consumer to be pretty savvy about this issue. I've watched health department colleagues try to pass those messages on to the public for years with little effect. I have a simple solution - let's give the fish and the planet a break and end our consumption of fish and other aquatic animals. Get your fatty acids from vegetables. We'll reduce our exposure to mercury (especially children and women of child-bearing age), give the wild species a chance to rebound, and do away with farmed animals who are treated cruelly and end fish farming practices that affect the health of the oceans and other wild species. Problems solved!

Tom Kelly

...cheese just tastes way too good, and margarine/veg. oil will never make baked goods taste nearly as good as butter.

As much as I like my ever-so-rare filet-o-fish, or Burger King's fish sandwich, when I am on the road, nevertheless, we should remember:

 there is NO humane death for fish, so far as they are caught and dragged to death nowadays, most of them allowed simply to panic and suffocate;

 there is no responsible application of "sustainable" to any fishery; some fisheries are much better than others, right now; but nobody knows enough to tell you anything reliable about the way things will look in five years.

So: Let us all knock the seafood habit as quickly as possible.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

Canis,

I'm shocked!  I was a long distance trucker for five years when I was a vegetarian.  It was rough, but if you make some effort, you can eat without patronizing evil companies like Bugger King, which is still buying imported beef that was grazed on former tropical rainforest land cut down for the grazing.  I realize you're not buying beef, but any money you spend there supports whatever Bugger King does.

When you travel, keep these ideas in mind:

The best places to eat are big cities, with a few very rare exceptions.  They have the most choices, and not only have strictly veggie restaurants, but also Asian food and pizza that you can eat without eating domesticated meat or unsustainable fish/seafood.  In small towns, you're far more likely to be forced into eating things you don't want from big corporate chains.

There were, and I assume still are, books that tell you where the veggie restaurants around the country are and give brief descriptions of them.  Buy a new one, because the info changes quickly.  Even with a new one, you'll find that some of the restaurants have been closed, so call ahead if you're counting on one.

You can always order eggs if you can't get veggie protein, which is what I used to do.  Don't know whether eggs are veggie for you, they were for me.

Carry some protein with you, like nuts and legumes (peanuts, cashews, etc.).  That way, if you can't get veggie protein from a restaurant because you're stuck in, say, the middle of nowhere in Wyoming and there's no city within 200 miles at which to eat, you don't have to eat meat.

Don't eat at McDeathalds or Bugger King under any circumstances.  These evil corporate giants create much ecological destruction and use virtual slave labor.

Hey Wolverine baby,
You are absolutely right.  But in my case, we are talking about a once-a-year thing, max.

The real issue is not eating, so much as peeing.  And making sure Little Dog has enough water.

As an ex-trucker, you have terrific experience, which we lack.  Meanwhile, it is indeed true that whenever we pull into a McDonald's or Burger King lot, I fantasize a colossal Max von Sydow, in a black floor-length cowl, holding a scythe.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

"What about catfish or tilapia?"  That's about 80% of my protein intake.  Low on the food chain, can be sustainably farmed.

Are fishing quotas in Alaska set to maintain fish population?   I have the impression that there is a hold rush mentality begind every natural resource based industry in Alaska.  

How strong in terms of munbers and political influence are environmentalists in Alaska?  

Lately I have the impression that oil revenue payouts to citizens, industry employment, very high Alaskan living expenses, and the winnowing out of the job base and government of those opposed to unbridled industry exploitation has rendered environmentalism in Alaska dead.

In short, virtually all working people who care about mother earth have been forced to move elsewhere.  Is this the case?

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

"Few Alaskans would be caught dead calling themselves environmentalists."

That is the impression I got too.  They tend to despise environmentalism.  Anyone that sees a spiritual value in nature is not only seen as a kook, but someone to be aggresively (violently?) opposed.  

One can only express that sort of feeling in private, especially not in the workplace or in public where it will get back to supervosots or employers.

"Alaskans, on average, resent people from 'Outside' telling them what to do with their land,"

That resentment is frequently expressed in terms of "he got what he deserved" about people like the "Grizzly Man" or the "Into The Wild" guy who died in that bus.

I am familiar with this attitude around here with "No Wolves" bumperstickers on a few  trucks.  The old attitudes are falling away here though.  Will that ever happen in Alaska?

The "from outside" and "their land" attitude is problematic too.  Are federal or state lands "theirs" to exploit in whatever fashion their employer wants too?  

My impression is that game laws are largely  ignored in Alaska.  Wealthy tourists are flown in to bag trophies regardless of any game laws as a routine activity.

Good comments Erin!  here's hoping your poineering environmental effots take hold someday.  Thanks.  

Now just hope no one from your town reads Gristmill, yikes!

ps.  Congrats on your lifestyle.  That would go a long way towards saving the planet if it becomes more widespread.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

Great site Erin!  Have a good trip.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

As though the opinion of many of us in the Lower 48 mattered, it should be remembered that Euro-American Alaskans are masters of denialism.  They could not survive but for subsidies from us suckers down here; and yet they claim to be valiant, heroic frontiersmen.  The story of settlement by exploitative Europeans and Euro-Americans in the various regions contained within the state of Alaska is nothing short of disgraceful.  And since petroleum became an issue, that justification of the extraction industries has only got worse.

As for the "sustainable" salmon fishery off southern Alaska: Sure, that fishery is better managed than many others.  But given the uncertainty and agnosticism of marine ecosystems, we are irresponsibly optimistic to say that Alaskan wild salmon is "sustainable."

Nobody knows, really.  And those who know the most, cannot predict beyond five or ten years.

And that is typical of what led to the global biodiversity crisis in the first place: "We can get as rich as we possibly can, exploiting this resource [i.e. living sentient creatures, their painful deaths going without comment], for maybe five, ten years; and everybody will believe we are acting responsibly."

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

Canis.  The only fish I eat now are ones I catch or get from local fishing family businesses on Lake superior, smoked trout and white fish.

The Great Lakes fishery is at dire risk from invasive species.  And even in Lake Superior, industrial pollution.

Over fishing maybe under control for now.  These DNR people watching over Lake Superior are fierce in their defense of the resource, facing down commercial and political power with dedication.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

In all respect Canis, animal rights rhetoric wouldn't be positive towards fisheries no matter what. Still, fisheries account for some part or more of the protein of millions of people. In Norway we annually harvest enough protein in just herring to feed more than the domestic population, and that with a herring population who is on the rise from a total collapse some three decades ago. Natural resource administrator do as good as they can, and we have to be able to put the label of sustainable on "to the best of our knowledge-"knowledge to do anything. We already know agriculture is unsustainable the moment the plow hits the soil, but have to do the best from there.

Fisheries can be quite efficient in energy (if done close shore), don't have to be fertilized, it ensures valuable phosphorous and other nutrients is retreived from the sea back to terrestrial environments, and has some pretty healthful properties. It isn't always sustainable, and yes, it does kill.

Don't misunderstand me, I am very vegan-friendly, and eat very little animal products myself, but I see no reason that it is impossible to discuss degrees of sustainability even if one wouldn't eat fish from moral reasons.

You may want to do some research about eating calamari often at restaurants. I believe I have come across information on some types of squid being endangered.