I am deeply saddened that I am only now learning about the issues surrounding the sustainability of our oceans. I ignorantly assumed that our oceans and the fish in it were infinite with an abundant supply of food to feed the entire world.
I was wrong.
I encourage you to watch the film, “The End of the Line.”
It will change your views and allow you to understand how the industrialization of fisheries are threatening life in the ocean and wreaking havoc on its ecosystem.
Join me as in April I will be dedicating the entire month to issues surrounding the sustainability of our oceans including recipes using sustainable fish.
Together we’ll be learning
- What industrialized fishing is
- The current state of depletion of our fish
- How these methods are effecting third world countries and their means of survival
- Fisheries overfishing
- Vanity, trendy and popular… sushi and what it’s doing to bluefin tuna.
- farming fish and why this method of production is unsustainable
- Fish on the endangered species list
- Being an advocate of fish-free zones and being a steward of our oceans
- What we can do to help save our fish
It’s a lot to go through and I’m excited to learn right along with you so that together we can make the right choices when buying fish and to reconsider eating different types of fish according to where we live. (Yes, that means more lake fish for me… I can do it, lol!)
What you can do now.
- Watch, “The End of the Line.”
- Visit The Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program and print out a pocket guide so that you can make informed decisions when buying fish.
Always remember, knowledge is power. Let’s learn about these issues together and continue a movement of sustainability even within our oceans.
We’re destroying the life in our planet as fast as we can and most of the people in the world don’t even know about it… And what we, so called “first world”, don’t realize is that we are deeply dependent on the planet… we’re just one thing.
I’m not very fond of fish but I’ll sure be watching out for the recipes.
Diana, I’m glad you’re posting about this, Our oceans are not an all you can eat buffet and its time people understood how our buying decisions effect them! I still have my seafood guide from years ago, thanks for the reminder to get an updated version! As new fish become en vogue in the restaurant world they too get over-fished in horrific ways until demand far outweighs supply and we move our depletion methods on to new target species. Thankfully my family and I love to fish ourselves and follow Iowa DNR guides for local fish that are safe to feed ourselves. Great post and I look forward to reading the rest of your highlights in April
~Kelli
Glad you watched it!! It’s eye-opening and sobering, right? Be careful of the pocket guides, though – recent reports about their labeling practices. Other book recs for April check out my article: http://tinyurl.com/4uryqe2
February 19, 2011 TEDxManhattan took place and it was all about food and our environment. Several of the speakers resonated with me. This one in particular. It’s a story told with humor and love of a fish farm that is sustainable. And I mean sustainable in the way that word was meant to be used but rarely is. This twenty narrative is worth your time.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/790
Foy, thank you for sharing that! What a brilliant speach!
I’m looking forward to this series, Diana. You know how we feel on this topic – Danny wrote an serious post a few weeks ago.
It’s a sad state of affairs, but encouraging that more people are talking about it.
There is so much to think about when making food choices that it really is getting overwhelming. The other side of this situation regarding seafood is the contaminants in it. All of the toxins in our environment are overwhelming us and the health consequences are staggering.
I wrote a post on it that you and your readers might find interesting: http://wholenewmom.com/health/mercury-in-fish/
Just found the movie on Netflix streaming…going to watch it tonight. Thanx!