The Economist published an article last week on jellyfish, which featured a fellow graduate student at the Fisheries Centre, Lucas Brotz. Can jellyfish really be the future of seafood? Jellyfish only provide about 4 calories per 100 g but, beyond that, there is a real danger of encouraging demand for a product that was spawned from unhealthy and poorly managed oceans...
Jellyfish push out incredibly valuable, and diverse, marine ecosystems. Scientists may somehow turn jellyfish into food, tyres or flip-flops, but it is hard to imagine an industry based on a product that is at least 95% water will ever be economically superior to one based on a diverse and healthy marine ecosystem. In 2004, fish caught in the ocean netted $85 billion on first sale. Do we want to grow an industry that has a vested interest in a very different kind of ocean to the one we have today? The world has to decide what kind of ocean it wants: one thriving with diverse marine life, or one swimming with a few hundred species of jellyfish.
Comments
And yet, they can fuel sufficient growth to produce this!
Posted by: Sven DIMilo | April 7, 2008 10:13 AM
I know! And let's not forget the mola mola, too. Have you seen this excellent TED talk on sunfish?
Posted by: Jennifer L. Jacquet | April 7, 2008 10:21 AM
As heartening as it is to see that some species can flourish on a diet of jellyfish, I really wonder if they'd flourish in an ocean in which we were missing the full compliment of diverse lifeforms which currently flourish as well. Somehow I doubt it, and I'm a little afraid to find out. In the mean time I guess we should "dig in".
Posted by: doug l | April 7, 2008 3:15 PM
Please; they are not a variety of fish. Can't we please call them "sea jellies"? And starfish are not fish either. And Shellfish...
Posted by: BlindSquirrel | April 19, 2008 1:33 AM
Blind Squirrel, You nailed Lucas' only complaint about the article. He fully agrees with you that that they should be called 'jellies', which we also support here at SB (note the post's title). This will no doubt have to be settled in the future as they become a more common foodstuff...
Posted by: Jennifer L. Jacquet | April 19, 2008 5:29 AM