Should we boycott seafood altogether?

06/15/2009

Marine scientist Jennifer Jacquet has given up seafood altogether, and invites others to join her. Copyright (c) 2009 Sherman Lai.

After posting on sustainable seafood choices last week, I became aware of a raging debate – which came to a head at the New York Times - over whether we should eat seafood at all. In the Room for Debate blog, the New York Times Editors published the views of several prominent marine conservationists - The Seafood Eater's Latest Conundrum, leading to much commentary. My favorite comment, though, has got to be, "seriously, when is this food madness going to stop, when we end up eating dirt, rocks and sticks?"

Mark Bittman chronicled changes over the past several decades in the history of eating fish and just how complicated it has become in another New York Times article just published, Loving Fish, This Time with the Fish in Mind. When he wrote his book, Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking, in 1994, the recommendation was simple – if you catch it fresh and eat it, it’s all good. But then fish farming was created, with all its environmental hazards, and cheap freight meant fish could now be shipped internationally to meet consumer demand for delicious fare, like orange roughy, anywhere in the world. Today, despite access to data on which fish are sustainably harvested and which are not, it’s exceedingly difficult at times to get the grocery store personnel or restaurauteurs to tell us just where the fish we’re trying to buy actually came from.

Environmental economist Jennifer Jacquet thinks people should just abstain from seafood altogether. Jacquet, who works for The Sea Around Us Project at the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre which documents the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems, recently blogged about her continued advocacy of abstaining from seafood for pretty much all but those who rely on fish to survive - typically in third world nations. "We should give priority and access to fish to people who are food insecure—mostly those in the tropics," says Jacquet.

Jacquet had previously talked about her stance outlined in a 2007 online debate with Randy Olson, founder of the Shifting Baselines Ocean Media Project and producer of the 2006 documentary Flock of Dodos. She goes so far as calling for a global seafood strike, giving several compelling reasons. Seafood accounts for the most animal flesh eaten worldwide. Global fisheries production has increased from 20 million tons in 1950 to more than 150 million tons today. Seafood consumption in the U.S. has increased dramatically. She makes an interesting point that while many animal advocate groups oppose eating pigs, cattle, and chicken, no groups exclusively oppose eating fish. I didn’t realize that, but it’s certainly true that I personally have heard of many “vegetarians” who say that they don’t eat meat, but do eat seafood. An interesting irony. However, PETA does have a Save the Sea Kittens campaign, in which they attempt to rename fish "sea kittens" to give them more popular appeal among compassionate animal lovers. It's true that mammals and birds get much more attention, whereas there is much less general awareness on the “secret lives” of fish, squid, octopi, mussels, and the like. But aquatic organisms have utterly fascinating life histories.

A new documentary film, End of the Line, is released in the U.S. June 19th, with the tagline "imagine a world without fish." It looks powerful, and I only wish they’d show it in Houston! Somehow despite being the 4th largest city in the U.S., we always get short shrift when it comes to the release of documentaries.

At any rate, what do you think about the idea of giving up seafood altogether? Has anyone else taken this step along with Jacquet?

Comments

[MGaskill]

Wendee, I don't think I'll go so far as saying we wealthy nations should not eat any seafood, but we sure as heck could be more careful and thoughtful about it. AND we can stop using fish to feed our pets!!

[rusty silver]

Please refrain from buying any seafood until the the Gulf oil threat has left the media... The hype is only second to that of the local gas station. PB&J :_)