Actually, we hardly eat any fish at all. It’s not that we don’t like fish - I have fish and chips and greasy newsprint in my DNA, and Kristi has been known to Doyle a Meal (a phrase we picked up in Ireland from a tiny, delicious chip shop there). It’s that the seas are possibly an even bigger disaster than the land at this point, and most every major species — especially predator species — are fished to collapse. I’m reading about this stuff in Bottom Feeder, an immensely depressing book. But today the BBC reports that major tuna fishing nations are actually backing calls for a closure of the Mediterranean tuna fishery.
It’s such a disgrace that JAPAN - the biggest consumer of tuna in the entire world, yes-you-heard-me-right JAPAN - voted in favor of closing the fishery. Read the article here.
Cod, by the way, that old friend that we here in New England like to delude ourselves is always local, is in rough, sad shape. The greatest fisheries, off of Newfoundland and Iceland, are close to eliminated, and our hunger for fishsticks has altered the ecosystem by basically removing one of the oceans great predators, the swimming garbage truck that is cod. Now, smaller fish are becoming the top of the food chain. Good work, school cafeterias and ketchup-smeared fourth graders.
There are three other things that stick in my craw about eating fish. Briefly, you cannot guarantee much about a fish (i.e. talk to the farmer), including A). where the fish is coming from, if it’s been legally caught or even if it’s the species it purports to be. B). The trendy practice of alerting folks that fish are “line caught” is a bit of a misnomer. These lines are miles long and have tens of thousands of hooks. They are only slightly better than the ocean trawlers that roam the seas with giants nets, decimating underwater landscapes and catching everything in its path, much of which will be thrown overboard, dead, because it’s not the species the fisherman on that boat are looking for.
And C). This should stick in every craw. I’m sure that, like me, many of you have met those who are ethical “vegetarians” but who eat fish. I suppose that, like me, these pescetarians have never seen a big fish like a tuna or cod caught. It’s a revelation; a brutal, man vs. fish fight to death. These tuna, for example swim, no joke, like 70 miles per hour. They don’t give up the ghost without a battle….
Several people have inquired about whether we’ll be adding a fish page to our site: they wanna know where they can get the goods and feel OK about eating them. Well, we wanna know too. It’s just that so far our efforts have been delayed by me getting a 9 to 5 and Kristi trying to write a thesis. (More on that later; it has to do with all of you, blog reader types.) But do stay tuned, OR, better yet, DO volunteer to help us realize this research.
Tags: Rants
Don’t give up just yet! There has been talk of a community supported fishery in Gloucester. I don’t have any concrete details yet, but I’m keeping my eye out (see my post on CSFs at blueheronlocal.wordpress.com).
And since I can’t eat ten pounds of fish a week, I’d love to share a share (so to speak).
While I understand the ire living in the city and having no access to local fisheries can produce. I do think you have overlooked one of the most obvious sources of local fish.
You.
That’s right you could catch only local species of fish, kill them and eat them. Yum.
Please remember to follow your local and federal guidelines for seasons, permits, and size restrictions. These rules are in effect to promote healthy fish populations and to provide revenue for sustainable fishing policies and their enforcement.
Fish can also be frozen, smoked, etc. to allow the consumption of this wonderful protein filled food source all year long.
In short the mechanized rape of our oceans is horrific, but individuals taking no more than they need in an ethical and sustainable manner is how do you say on the interwubs?
Nomkins
Onion