What to about
#1
Plastic, mercury
and other toxic
70% of the earth surface is covered in water and with industrialisation it has become measurably more toxic. We see this with warnings for pregnant women to not eat salmon and yet what about all life that lives in the sea. We hear about mercury levels but also levels of dioxins, PCB’S and cadmiun are high.
A polymer derived from Orange peels has been developed at Flinders University that will suck up mercury from the oceans. The key ingredients are waste products from the petroleum and citrus industries.
There are projects to remove plastic waste from our seas but the Ooho is a “bubble like sphere of water”. The water is protected inside a gelatinous film that’s made from plants so it is both biodegrable as well as edible.
#2 Overfishing
It is estimated that at least 80% of the world’s fisheries are overexploited. The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) acts to protect the oceans and seas and promote environmentally sound use of marine resources.
One of the most important international laws for aquatic systems is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. This convention sets a comprehensive legal framework to regulate the space, uses and resources of our oceans.
#3
‘Medicated’ farm fish
Fish farming or aquaculture is a boom industry and now accounts for half the fish eaten in the US. It is seen as a way to meet the world’s growing demand for fish.
Farmed fish are fed wild caught fish and one study showed that it took 5kg of wild fish to produce 1kg of farmed salmon that had questionable nutritional value.
The fish are raised in a stressful environment and are susceptible to disease and parasites. In order to combat this they are fed medications which then damage the ecosystems as well as people that consume them.
#4
Damage to the ocean floor
Bottom trawling not only destroys habitats but the stirred up sediment can prevent light reaching its normal depths where it is needed for photosynthesis in plankton, sea kelp and other plants that are the basis for the marine food chain. Stirring up the sediment reintroduces settled toxins into the food chain and the resulting cloud can cover a much larger area than was originally trawled.
The US has banned bottom trawling in its offshore jurisdictions. The DSCC has 1400 signatures from marine scientists from 69 countries asking for a moratorium on deep sea bottom trawling to try to provide protection to what is still a largely undiscovered biodiversity.
Fish and fish eaters becoming unhealthier
You do not have to eat fish anymore
The planet earth is known as the blue planet because 71% of it is covered in water. Between 50 to 80% of all life on earth is found in that water and less than 10% of that space has been explored by humans. We have one word, fish, to describe 28,000 species and of that only a small number are eaten.
With the help of researchby people like Dr Alan Jamieson of Newcastle University we can understand just how much damage has been done to our oceans. There was a time when it was said that the ocean is so vast it can cope and yet pollution has been found in the deepest sea trenches.
The contaminants include plastics, dioxins, PCB’s and mercury which are all a result of industrialisation. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers enter the oceans as a result of rain washing them into our waterways which end in the ocean. There is contamination from raw sewage and oil spills as well as the historical dumping of rubbish and industrial waste.
Some national jurisdictions have banned bottom trawling
Justin Chalker and his team from Flinders University have developed a polymer from industrial waste products that removes mercury from soil and water. In an interview, they said that more generally they hope to inspire other scientists and engineers to develop novel and useful materials that address urgent challenges in sustainability.
With technological advances, we can see more easily where fish are located and have also developed trawler systems that will catch more fish. The bottom trawling nets are dragged across the ocean floor destroying habitats and stirring up sediment. The stirred-up sediment prevents light reaching its normal depth and over a much larger area than the net passed. This light is needed for photosynthesis in plankton, sea kelp and other plants that form the basis of the marine food chain. The stirred-up sediment includes settled toxins and these are reintroduced into the food chain and with currents can spread up to 10 kilometers.
80% of the world’s fisheries are overexploited
Some national jurisdictions have banned bottom trawling in its offshore jurisdictions but so far there is no global regulation. The Deep Sea Conservation Coaltion (DSCC) has 1400 signatures from marine scientists from 69 countries asking for a moratorium on deep sea bottom trawling to try to provide protection to what is still a largely undiscovered biodiversity.
It is estimated that at least 80% of the world’s fisheries are overexploited. The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) acts to protect the oceans and seas and promote environmentally sound use of marine resources.
Fish caught in trawler nets normally die of suffocation
One of the most important international laws for aquatic systems is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. This convention sets a comprehensive legal framework to regulate the space, uses and resources of our oceans and is an overarching framework. There are treaties that address single issues e.g. the international convention for the conservation of Atlantic tuna. One of the difficulties is in ensuring that these laws place the ecosystem at the heart of decision making.
Fish that are caught in the wild are generally caught using trawling nets. These cannot discriminate between species and the unwanted fish, called bycatch, have in the past been thrown back into the sea. Fish caught in trawler nets normally die of suffocation, either in the net or when they have been packed in ice. At the moment there is no humane slaughter requirement for fish, one of the reasons being that they are cold blooded and feel no pain.
Lots of experiments have been conducted which prove fish feel pain
The discussion on the subject of fish feeling pain has caused a lot of discussion and lots of experiments have been conducted which prove they do. What that pain is like we can never know, in the same way that we do not know what our pet dog or cats pain is like, but they respond to pain and will make choices based on pain they are feeling.
In the US brothers Michael and Patrick Burns launched a unique fishing vessel called Blue North. It fishes for cod in the Bering Sea using a moon pool. So fish are individually line caught, stunned and then killed rapidly. The fact that the fish have been humanely harvested has not been a big selling point but they feel that will change and the artesanel fishing industry will grow.
Alaska has banned salmon farming and numbers are booming
Fish farming or aquaculture grew as a result of our demand for a dwindling supply of fish. It is a booming industry and yet wild salmon numbers are falling where salmon fish farms have been set up. Alaska has banned salmon farming and numbers are booming.
The confinement of the fish exposes them to parasites and disease, so they are fed a cocktail of drugs to deal with this. These not only damage the ecosystem but can damage the people that eat them.
Aquaculture is still a young industry and sustainable aquaculture is being explored. This will include recycling the water and using nutrient rich water. Technology can monitor the nutrient levels and the size of the fish so that as they grow they are moved into less crowded tanks.
We can obtain all necessary nutrition of fish
in plant based food’
So how beneficial is fish to our diet. We are told that is an important source of protein and that it is a good source of omega 3. And yet we can obtain these nutrients from a plant based whole food diet. All plant based food has protein with nuts, seeds and pulses being particularly rich. Omega 3 can be obtained from plenty of goods including linseeds and walnuts. The main advantage of plant based replacements for meat and fish protein is that they have fibre, which is good for the gut biome.
Our dietary requirement for protein is 0.8 gsm per kilo of body weight. For an average male this equates to about 55gm of protein per day. We can easily obtain our protein requirement from a variety of nutrient dense sources.
