Et Tu Pollock?

Pollock, the poster child for sustainable fishing, appears to be on the brink of collapse. I have more on the state of Bering Sea pollock fishery in my guest post at the Gristmill...

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What does the Filet-O-Fish at McDonalds have in common with that imitation crabmeat in California rolls and the uh, 'healthy' ingredient in beer-battered fish-n-chips? Pollock: poster child of sustainable seafood. Well the pollock fishery is now possibly on the brink of collapse. Managed…
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There was an excellent TV program about the factory ship fishery for pollock a couple of months back. Very interesting and scarily impressive. They were harvesting pollock by the jillion tons per trawl, and completely processing them assembly line fashion. Absolutely no waste; everything completely processed into a saleable product and packaged ready to sell. Boxes of processed and frozen McDonald fish squares ready to ship, bags of fish meal, etc. The gonads were harvested, frozen and packaged for shipment to Japan. I think they got $250 a pound for them. The rest of the catch was the break-even and the gonads were the profit. Maybe you can find the program on the internet.

By Jim Thomerson (not verified) on 14 Oct 2008 #permalink

Isn't it a bit alarmist to conclude that a fishery is on the brink of collapse from one bad year? Populations, like stock markets, go up and down.

I commented on this at "The Intersection", but I'll reiterate that in order to save the fisheries, the massive overconsumption of imperiled seafood species by societies in which seafood consumption is traditional (Japan takes the lead, but Spain is another major player) must be significantly reduced. Otherwise, they will revisit the "Tragedy of the Commons" on numerous fisheries, as has already happened for those (like Grand Banks cod) that have collapsed.

McDonald fish squares ready to ship, bags of fish meal, etc. The gonads were harvested, frozen and packaged for shipment to Japan. I think they got $250 a pound for them. The rest of the catch was the break-even and the gonads were the profit. Maybe you can find the program on the internet.

And damn, I wish I could write like you! I'm sorry you have such a heartbreaking story to tell, but you tell it so very well.

I think people differ greatly on this issue. For example, if it were completely unidentifiable as my own, I would have no problem with a picture of my naked ass being posted on the Internet. Others would be absolutely horrified by the prospect.

I think they got $250 a pound for them. The rest of the catch was the break-even and the gonads were the profit. Maybe you can find the program on the internet.

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I think they got $250 a pound for them. The rest of the catch was the break-even and the gonads were the profit. Maybe you can find the program on the internet.