After reading my review of Food Matters, my mom did a little looking into whether eating fish are really that much better for the environment than eating cows.
She found a blog about environmental impact on the oceans which links to this article from Science Daily about how the biggest fish being caught are getting smaller rapidly which indicates that we are overfishing our resources.
There has been an 88% decline in the weight of the large predatory fish commonly considered “trophy fish” by fishermen in the past 50 years.
Here’s a picture that clearly demonstrates the impact of overfishing:
Trophy fish caught on Key West charter boats: a) 1957, b) early 1980s and c) 2007. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of California - San Diego)
While this is bad news for the environment and the fish, this is good news for me because I don’t actually like to eat fish and now I don’t have to feel so guilty about not picking them over chicken or beef.
Featured in All Things Eco.
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{ 3 comments }
Wow. That is crazy! I read on a blog the other day that if we keep fishing the oceans the way we are we’ll run out of fish by 2050. So sad.
Great. I know wild caught fish is better for you but is it better for the environment to eat farm raised?
that kind of paints a broad brush across seafood. yes, trophy fish like bluefin tuna and marlin swordfish are being overfished and contain high level of mercury.
but there are plenty of other seafood options with sustainable practices (either farmed or from well-managed fisheries) and low contaminant levels.
heres some you should stay away from:
Atlantic cod
Chilean Sea Bass
Monkfish
Orange Roughy
Farmed Atlantic Salmon
Shark
Asian Shrimp
Swordfish
Yellowfin Tuna (Ahi)
Bluefin Tuna
and heres some that’s a-okay:
Anchovies
Char (farmed)
Mackerel, Atlantic
Oysters (farmed)
Sablefish (Alaska, Canada)
Salmon, Wild (Alaska)
Sardines, Pacific (U.S.)
Trout, Rainbow (farmed)
Tuna, Albacore (U.S., Canada)
Mussels
enjoy!
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