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What It Takes 2007:
The Green Adventure
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What It Takes to Give Fish a BreakSylvia Earle, oceanographer, former Chief Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)
As told to Kalee Thompson
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" No one doubts that wildlife in the sea right now is in serious trouble. We have been far too aggressive about extracting ocean wildlife, not appreciating that there are limits and even points of no return. Ninety percent or so of the big fish in the ocean are gone—taken either for direct human consumption or for animal food or even for fertilizer or oils.
"I personally have stopped eating seafood. I know too much. I know that every fish counts at this point. Some more than others, but I can no longer bear the thought of eating tuna knowing in what dire straits they currently are. If we value the ocean and the ocean's health at all, we have to understand that fish are critical to maintaining the integrity of ocean systems, which in turn make the planet work. We have been so single-minded about fish, thinking that the only good fish is a cooked fish, rather than recognizing their importance to the ecosystem that also has a great value to us.
"I'm not against extracting a modest amount of wildlife out of the ocean for human consumption, but I am really concerned about the large-scale industrial fishing that engages in destructive practices like trawling and longlining. Trawling takes huge amounts of bycatch: birds and mammals and a whole host of life. Many creatures we don't even have names for yet get lost, killed in the process of dragging nets across the sea floor to catch shrimp and flounder and other bottom dwellers. And longlines—with baited hooks every few feet—may run 50 or 60 miles (80 to 97 kilometers) through the ocean and just catch whatever's there. There's no sign on the hook that says it shouldn't be swordfish or tuna, and those are two that shouldn't be caught right now. If we want to have recovery take place, we should be giving them a break.
"It starts with sitting down and eating a swordfish steak. You can help by giving that a pass for the time being until we better figure out what we can get away with and still maintain the integrity of the ocean. It doesn't mean that we should forever stop eating fish, but we should be smarter about what we take and how much we take, where we take it and when we take it.
"We humans are far more abundant now than when I was a kid—nine billion people and rising. When I arrived on the planet there were only two billion. Wildlife was more abundant, we were less so; now the situation is reversed. The reality is that the number of fish is continuing to decline while our numbers continue to rise.
"If you want something to recover, there's a 'duh' kind of action you take: Stop killing them. You want whales to be around after they're down to a fraction of their former numbers? Let's start with not killing them anymore. That in a stroke would be the best hope."
Take Action: The Monterey Bay Aquarium's guide—available in a tiny, wallet-sized pamphlet—is a good start toward greening your seafood consumption: www.mbayaq.org. Sylvia Earle's current no-guilt list is limited to local, farm-raised catfish, tilapia, and carp.
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