I love seafood, but I eat it quite rarely. About a third of my old Department did fisheries and aquaculture science so I've seen many seminars and Thesis defenses on the topic and am quite aware of the problems with the world's fisheries stocks.
I also prefer freshwater fish - I grew up on the Danube and my Mom fixes the best Fish Soup in the history of the Universe.
But, if you like seafood and you want to eat shrimp occasionally, yet you want to act in an environmentally responsible way, you need to know quite a lot about ecology, about behavior and natural history of shrimp, about the methods of harvesting and/or farming shrimp, about the way shrimp are processed and marketed. Armed with all that information, you'll know where, when, how, how often and from whom to buy shrimp. It is not easy to find all that informaiton, but now you can find it all in one place.
Mark H (better known around science blogs as the person running the Biomes Blog), as a part of his marvelous Marine Life Series, has put it all together here.
He even provides a recipe at the end, which looks promising - I may try to use it one day, once I figure out how to find environmentaly not-so-bad shrimp around here.
Comments
I'd like to see mandatory country-of-origin labeling for food. Consumers would have at least a fighting chance to buy more environmentally sound products.
Posted by: Rugosa | January 29, 2007 3:30 PM
It is important that we find ways to eat seafood responsibly. Shrimp is a big issue, but there are other aquatic species as well in trouble. Salmon is one of them. And there does exist a way we can both enjoy consuming salmon and protect it for years to come.
Currently, Trout Unlimited is working on a Pacific Salmon campaign, with one goal of educating Salmon consumers. By signing the Salmon Consumer's Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, consumers are taking steps not only to secure safe, healthy salmon for consuming, but also that the natural environment is protected to ensure safe and healthy salmon. To learn more or sign the Bill of Rights go to
http://www.whywild.org
Posted by: Hannah | July 10, 2007 11:49 AM