<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Fishing for hope at a seafood-industry trade show]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Eli http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/ Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:37:52 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/1 Is sustainable seafood possible?

Roz,

I imagine most people share your mix of wary cynicism and guarded optimism when they consider seafood and aquaculture issues; there is so much conflicting information that consumers are rightfully confused.

It is important that the serious environmental, social, and health implications involved are publicized, and that the issues are not sugarcoated and greenwashed by the industry and the media.

As new aquaculture technologies promise to feed the growing demand for seafood, it will become increasingly necessary that sustainability is ensured.  This is not currently happening; A recent analysis of 18 aquaculture certification schemes by the World Wildlife Fund showed that they generally had major shortcomings in terms of the way in which they considered environmental standards and social issues.

Furthermore, sustainability must take into consideration health and social implications in addition to environmental impacts.  To feed Americans' insatiable appetite for shrimp,for example, over 80% is imported from countries like China and Ecuador.  There are significant consequences of this including:

**Health: Consumer health risks from eating contaminated shrimp include neurological damage from ingesting pesticides, allergic reactions to penicillin residues, and infection from antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In shrimp farming countries, the health of the people has declined since shrimp farms have polluted drinking water and decreased agricultural production.

*Social:  Shrimp farms physically block community access to coastal resources and limit access to fishing sites, so local fishing communities that traditionally relied on mangroves for food and resources have been displaced and impoverished, often without financial compensation or alternative land made available for them to live. Child labor and abuse of women have also been associated with shrimp farming. In the U.S., local fishermen have been put out of business due to the "dumping" of cheap imports.

**Environmental: Shrimp farming is the number one threat to mangroves and coastal ecosystems, which provide habitat for tropical and subtropical commercial fisheries and numerous aquatic species; protect coastlines from wind and waves thereby minimizing damage from storms, hurricanes, and tsunamis; trap sediments and prevent erosion; and absorb CO 2 which helps lessen the effects of global warming. It also depletes wild fish stocks and pollutes agricultural land and waterways.

Mangrove Action Project and Food and Water Watch are partnering to launch a consumer awareness campaign about these important issues. For more information, visit:

Mangrove Action Project http://www.magroveactionproject.org,  

Food and Water Watch http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/fish-seafood/shrimp ...

Environmental Justice Foundation http://www.ejfoundation.org/page211.html,

Greenpeace  
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/ ...


]]> Is sustainable seafood possible?

Roz,

I imagine most people share your mix of wary cynicism and guarded optimism when they consider seafood and aquaculture issues; there is so much conflicting information that consumers are rightfully confused.

It is important that the serious environmental, social, and health implications involved are publicized, and that the issues are not sugarcoated and greenwashed by the industry and the media.

As new aquaculture technologies promise to feed the growing demand for seafood, it will become increasingly necessary that sustainability is ensured.  This is not currently happening; A recent analysis of 18 aquaculture certification schemes by the World Wildlife Fund showed that they generally had major shortcomings in terms of the way in which they considered environmental standards and social issues.

Furthermore, sustainability must take into consideration health and social implications in addition to environmental impacts.  To feed Americans' insatiable appetite for shrimp,for example, over 80% is imported from countries like China and Ecuador.  There are significant consequences of this including:

**Health: Consumer health risks from eating contaminated shrimp include neurological damage from ingesting pesticides, allergic reactions to penicillin residues, and infection from antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In shrimp farming countries, the health of the people has declined since shrimp farms have polluted drinking water and decreased agricultural production.

*Social:  Shrimp farms physically block community access to coastal resources and limit access to fishing sites, so local fishing communities that traditionally relied on mangroves for food and resources have been displaced and impoverished, often without financial compensation or alternative land made available for them to live. Child labor and abuse of women have also been associated with shrimp farming. In the U.S., local fishermen have been put out of business due to the "dumping" of cheap imports.

**Environmental: Shrimp farming is the number one threat to mangroves and coastal ecosystems, which provide habitat for tropical and subtropical commercial fisheries and numerous aquatic species; protect coastlines from wind and waves thereby minimizing damage from storms, hurricanes, and tsunamis; trap sediments and prevent erosion; and absorb CO 2 which helps lessen the effects of global warming. It also depletes wild fish stocks and pollutes agricultural land and waterways.

Mangrove Action Project and Food and Water Watch are partnering to launch a consumer awareness campaign about these important issues. For more information, visit:

Mangrove Action Project http://www.magroveactionproject.org,  

Food and Water Watch http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/fish-seafood/shrimp ...

Environmental Justice Foundation http://www.ejfoundation.org/page211.html,

Greenpeace  
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/ ...


]]> Comment #2 by Roz Cummins http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:29:47 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/2 Thanks, Eli...

You were the Mangrove Action Project's representative on the Chef's Collaborative conference call on sustainable shrimp on Tuesday, yes? I thought that what you had to say about local access to shoreline and the need to avoid salinity problems in local wells was very interesting. Thanks for raising all of these topics. Perhaps we can do an interview about these in the near future. - Roz

]]> Thanks, Eli...

You were the Mangrove Action Project's representative on the Chef's Collaborative conference call on sustainable shrimp on Tuesday, yes? I thought that what you had to say about local access to shoreline and the need to avoid salinity problems in local wells was very interesting. Thanks for raising all of these topics. Perhaps we can do an interview about these in the near future. - Roz

]]> Comment #3 by Eli http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:44:23 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/3 Correction

Sorry, there was a mistake in my previous comment.   The website for Mangrove Action Project is:

http://www.mangroveactionproject.org

]]> Correction

Sorry, there was a mistake in my previous comment.   The website for Mangrove Action Project is:

http://www.mangroveactionproject.org

]]> Comment #4 by joeybrookhart http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:10:09 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/4 Champions for sustainable seafood

Sustainable seafood is most definitely possible. Does it mean we collectively have it all figured out? No, but I would like to point out that many companies and individuals are on the right path.

At the same Boston Seafood Show, Seafood Choices Alliance unveiled the six 2008 Seafood Champion Awards, annually bestowed to those companies or individuals who are leading this charge.

The recipients are:
Association du Grand Littoral Atlantique (France)
Mike Mitchell of Foodvest (United Kingdom)
The Plitt Company (Chicago, Illinois)
Sunburst Trout Company (Canton, North Carolina)
Barton Seaver and Hook Restaurant (Washington, DC)
Bart van Olphen of Fishes (The Netherlands)

Read more about the 2008 Champions on our website at www.seafoodchoices.org

Joey Brookhart
Senior Project Manager, Seafood Choices Alliance







]]> Champions for sustainable seafood

Sustainable seafood is most definitely possible. Does it mean we collectively have it all figured out? No, but I would like to point out that many companies and individuals are on the right path.

At the same Boston Seafood Show, Seafood Choices Alliance unveiled the six 2008 Seafood Champion Awards, annually bestowed to those companies or individuals who are leading this charge.

The recipients are:
Association du Grand Littoral Atlantique (France)
Mike Mitchell of Foodvest (United Kingdom)
The Plitt Company (Chicago, Illinois)
Sunburst Trout Company (Canton, North Carolina)
Barton Seaver and Hook Restaurant (Washington, DC)
Bart van Olphen of Fishes (The Netherlands)

Read more about the 2008 Champions on our website at www.seafoodchoices.org

Joey Brookhart
Senior Project Manager, Seafood Choices Alliance







]]> Comment #5 by Jason D Scorse http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:57:00 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/5 Commercial fishing....

entails massive ecological costs in even best case scenarios. "Sustainable" in this context is really a misnomer, even if it means not driving fish species to extinction. There's really no way around this.

]]> Commercial fishing....

entails massive ecological costs in even best case scenarios. "Sustainable" in this context is really a misnomer, even if it means not driving fish species to extinction. There's really no way around this.

]]> Comment #6 by Greengoddess http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/ Sun, 02 Mar 2008 07:04:05 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/seas-sick/6 Bottom up and top down

I was talking to a fishmonger here in Montreal today after I saw he was selling Chilean Sea Bass, Red Snapper, Skate, and Monkfish. He said he stocks what the customer wants. If he doesn't, then the restauranteur who buys $200 worth of sea bass per week, for ex., will just go elsewhere. I got him to admit that he will only stop selling a species (or a species from a certain place) if 1) the customers stop asking, and 2) the government declares it illegal. Otherwise, it's business!
I told him that I wanted to buy squid in his place, but I would not because of his unsustainable choices. He "wished me well" and sent me on my way.
Lesson (if extrapolatable to other fishmongers): we all must be educated and MOUTHY (always polite, of course; no one wants a cause associated with jerks) in the right places AND we must put pressure on powers that be to close certain fisheries or regulate them to the nth degree. I would prefer the latter because there are literally millions of people who do not read or listen to anxious environmentalists such as myself, so the government (sad to say) has to do the "boycotting" for them.
Just a word on shrimps, for those who love them and don't want to contribute to mangrove destruction or turtle death: try Matane (Nordic) shrimp from the Quebec Gaspé region. They're coldwater animals, wild, and sustainably caught to the best of my knowledge. Not big enough to butterfly but very tasty, pink and delicious anyway! Only seafood this mostly vegetarian will eat (for health, not so much for taste). I think they may be in season now.


]]> Bottom up and top down

I was talking to a fishmonger here in Montreal today after I saw he was selling Chilean Sea Bass, Red Snapper, Skate, and Monkfish. He said he stocks what the customer wants. If he doesn't, then the restauranteur who buys $200 worth of sea bass per week, for ex., will just go elsewhere. I got him to admit that he will only stop selling a species (or a species from a certain place) if 1) the customers stop asking, and 2) the government declares it illegal. Otherwise, it's business!
I told him that I wanted to buy squid in his place, but I would not because of his unsustainable choices. He "wished me well" and sent me on my way.
Lesson (if extrapolatable to other fishmongers): we all must be educated and MOUTHY (always polite, of course; no one wants a cause associated with jerks) in the right places AND we must put pressure on powers that be to close certain fisheries or regulate them to the nth degree. I would prefer the latter because there are literally millions of people who do not read or listen to anxious environmentalists such as myself, so the government (sad to say) has to do the "boycotting" for them.
Just a word on shrimps, for those who love them and don't want to contribute to mangrove destruction or turtle death: try Matane (Nordic) shrimp from the Quebec Gaspé region. They're coldwater animals, wild, and sustainably caught to the best of my knowledge. Not big enough to butterfly but very tasty, pink and delicious anyway! Only seafood this mostly vegetarian will eat (for health, not so much for taste). I think they may be in season now.


]]>