Fish - are you ready to give it up?

This is something I wrestle with. We are rapidly killing off our fish stocks.

The evidence suggests that fish stocks are decreasing and may be gone by 2050. This is partly because of over-fishing and partly because CO2 levels are increasing, which means the oceans are becoming more acidic, which kills off plankton and krill. But we don’t really notice any of this since fish keeps showing up in the supermarket. It is not local of course; those stocks are long gone.

So what to do about it? Boycott buying fish? Will we be forced to consider a vegetarian or vegan diet?

On the political front I suppose politicians could ban trawling. Eventually it will be banned. Right now fishing trawlers kill everything in their nets, including the top predators like sharks and tuna, and this upsets the ecological balance. Much of the rest goes over the side of the boat anyway. Even now, fishing boats from Europe and Russia and East Asia go thousands of miles to find fish – off Africa or the South Pacific since their own stocks are exhausted and they cannot meet the growing demand. One fisheries expert, Dr. Daniel Pauly (bio here), argues that some Africans starve so that fish off their coasts can land on the plates of rich Europeans and Americans who are worried about their health. There is some international cooperation of course and offenders have been caught (photo). More regulation is inevitable.

On the retail front, there is no question corporate retailers are concerned about this. They see their supplies decreasing and becoming more expensive and erratic. I would think the only thing we can do as consumers is complain to corporate supermarket retailers to ask that they get behind more marine protection areas so that fish stocks can regenerate. I think retailers will support this.

Marine aquaculture or fish farming is only a partial solution, because of widespread pollution from fish waste and the massive consumption of wild fish to feed the fish farms. It is a huge topic in itself and, as with anything in life, it causes as many problems as it solves. I think the Wikipedia article (here) is a good place to start. So for now, we eat white roughy, tilapia, salmon and trout, mostly from fish farms. Should we change tack? Suggestions welcomed.

Photo credit: Pål Julius Skogholt/Wikipedia. It shows the Arosa Quince, a Spanish trawler arrested and fined 1.9 million euros in Norway for illegal fishing in 2006.