Want to Help the Environment? Eat Weird, Delicious Fish
To improve biodiversity in the world’s oceans, experts want to help people acquire a taste for species that usually get thrown back.
The mandate at an Atlantic working summit on Wednesday was intense: figure out how the world’s resources can be used more thoughtfully. Unexpectedly, in two hours of discussion about saving the environment, supporting the poor, and reducing waste, one of the most engaging topics was
fish.
“Everything in the ocean depends on them,” explained Ellen Pikitch, the executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University. Specifically, underwater ecosystems rely heavily on “forage fish,” which include sardines, anchovies, herring, and more. But according to a report released by Pikitch’s solemnly named Forage Fish Task Force, many of these species are dying out. This is because they’re sensitive to changes in the environment and over-pursued by fishermen, who can easily scoop up densely packed schools.
A diver surrounded by a school of sardines (Reuters)
Why should anyone care about forage fish? Because they’re the ocean’s energy source – and thus the world’s energy source. Salmon, penguins, whales, and many kinds of birds depend on these species as prey, and when the tiny creatures die out, so do their predators. Especially in poorer coastal areas like Peru and Africa, many people rely on fish as a source of protein, and fishermen rely on their catch as a source of... LINK
To improve biodiversity in the world’s oceans, experts want to help people acquire a taste for species that usually get thrown back.
The mandate at an Atlantic working summit on Wednesday was intense: figure out how the world’s resources can be used more thoughtfully. Unexpectedly, in two hours of discussion about saving the environment, supporting the poor, and reducing waste, one of the most engaging topics was
fish.
“Everything in the ocean depends on them,” explained Ellen Pikitch, the executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University. Specifically, underwater ecosystems rely heavily on “forage fish,” which include sardines, anchovies, herring, and more. But according to a report released by Pikitch’s solemnly named Forage Fish Task Force, many of these species are dying out. This is because they’re sensitive to changes in the environment and over-pursued by fishermen, who can easily scoop up densely packed schools.
A diver surrounded by a school of sardines (Reuters)
Why should anyone care about forage fish? Because they’re the ocean’s energy source – and thus the world’s energy source. Salmon, penguins, whales, and many kinds of birds depend on these species as prey, and when the tiny creatures die out, so do their predators. Especially in poorer coastal areas like Peru and Africa, many people rely on fish as a source of protein, and fishermen rely on their catch as a source of... LINK
- Leia uma introdução a esta série de posts aqui.
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