The TRUE COST of a Shrimp Dinner!
By CSPANJunkie Friday Dec 19, 2008 7:15pmDecember 16, 2008 C-SPAN
Marine scientists and a deep sea photographer described the cumulative and unintended consequences of human activity on marine life. In their illustrated presentations they focused on global impacts of overfishing, oil extraction, toxic pollution, and climate change. They presented their recommendations to policymakers and the new administration about what should be done now to prevent further damage and a potential collapse of fisheries by mid-century. They responded to questions from reporters in the audience at the National Press Club. Pat Rizzuto moderated. See more CSPANJunkie Videos here
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I'm only 5'3"
Invite a shrimp to dinner!!!
There are unintended consequences about a great deal of our activities.
We want fresh fruit and vegetables year around so we burn petroleum to ship them to us.
Our Corporate Agribusiness pollutes mightily, the fertilizer runoff has created a Gulf of Mexico dead zone the size of New Jersey. They exist all over the world from fertilizer runoff.
There is plenty more bad news to list I am sure.
It is not looking good for Mother Earth.
Soylent Green anyone?
My doctors over at the VA tell me I need to eat more greens.
no?
I'm a Democrat.
There aren't very many of us around. If you eat too many, we'll go extinct.
After the humans go extinct.
we have a very short shrimp season but it is worth it. A short season keeps the numbers up and doesn't ruin the bottom as much where the lobsters and oysters are.
If you have never had Maine shrimp you ain't had shrimp!
about this degradation of the oceans in Discover Magazine over the past few years. And just last week, I saw the CNN special which included a piece about how the Chinese fishermen catch and kill millions of sharks just to cut off their fins to make shark-fin soup. This has been considered a delicacy and a rare treat in the far east for centuries, but now most people in China in can have access to it due to the huge fishing fleets that ply the oceans all around the globe.
We humans, supposedly the most intelligent creatures on the planet, need to immediately change our ways of growing food and harvesting the fruit of the sea. There is available technology that could be utilized now, but costs more - and greed is apparently a stronger motivation than ultimate survival.
More importantly, we need to do much more with regard to population planning and education. If we continue to increase the number of people without developing and implementing appropriate technologies and enforcing rules/laws, we'll all be long gone before any global warming gets us.
Next up, Congress will vote for a seafood industry bailout.
/it's all the rage
http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521&source...
The above link is to the Environmental Defense Fund's Seafood Selector. Please go to the link, print out the pocket version so you can make intelligent choices when shopping and eating out!
I see much ignorance in the idea put forth by some climate change deniers that the world is too big for man to have such an influence in the environment as to affect the weather. I remember as a kid in the late 60's standing on a mountain in Vermont and seeing pollution 360 degrees. It shook me. We are overfishing, and polluting our vast oceans on a scale that is hard to appreciate. Fuck yeah we can influence the earth's major environmental components. We can and we are to our detriment. Only a fool or a Republican wouldn't be worried.
I have not eaten tuna fish or shrimp in years, and not much other seafood, either - specifically because I know how much damage is being done to the ocean floor, environments and aquatic populations by these agressive methods - done out of a combination of greed, desperation and indifference.
But now I live not that far from Goat Island, where the marine reserve was started - by fishermen - and where the snapper has bounced back so well that the population has expanded outside the reserves in sufficient numbers that sustainable fishing is possible.
And I had a very lovely snapper dinner the other night, caught locally. Tastes even better when it's guilt-free.
It's yet another example of the idiotic mentality that the Earth's resources are infinite, that "god will provide".
At the same time, any mention of population control is met with talk of "human rights". The Earth can survive without us better than we can survive without the Earth, but many don't want to admit that.
good stuff, I went to the cspan junkie site and like what I see. thanks for posting.
That's how a rapist might describe impregnating his victim.
Which, when you come to think of it, is pretty much the attitude of humanity about the planet's resources.
"Fuck the consequences," is more like it...
When humans realize that animals are not "material" then even humans will treated better.
That's the point I got out of this incredible (and hilarious) new flick: http://ww.comingsoon.cz.
One of the great modern films!
When we stop treating animals as more than just "material" we'll start treating people better as well.
That's what I got out of the amazing (and hilarious) new flick: http://www.comingsoon.cz.
One of the great modern films!
Well, This topic has a number of facets to it. Over fishing being the largest problem. Water temp being another slightly lesser problem.
Pollution being an even greater problem.
Fishing techniques are a very very big issue. The indiscriminate harvesting of other species in the process is wrong. And this goes on everyday somewhere on the planet. Have you ever seen the way they harvest Blue Fin Tuna? What ever ends up in the net dies. Same with shrimp. How about Whaling? Or Baby Harp seals? I didn't know Canada still sanctions harvesting Baby Harp seals. Or how about the Russians and Japanese and their whaling. The Japanese are downright nasty about that.
The Japanese have a whole industrial fishing fleet. They often violate international law by coming inside the 20 mile limit (in Mexico) I could be mistaken on this one. It could be 200 miles.
At anyrate, they are famous down there for violating Mexican law and coming in to close.
I have a story for you about a Japanese fishing trawler.
A hurricane was coming to Cabo. And a Japanese fishing trawler had heard of it, and asked the Mexican fishermen if they would light a bonfire on the beach, so the could see where they were.
This is back in the 70's. The Mexican fishermen, knowing what the Japanese had been doing said sure, no problem.
Now, the Japanese thinking that the bonfire would be on the beach would help them keep from running aground.
The Mexican fishermen built the bonfire 3 miles inland on top of a ridge.
The surfspot was named Shipwrecks after that.
Anyway, Sea surface temps: The water is getting cooler. No El Nino and No La Nina this year. Which might be a good thing. Coral reefs need warm water. Not hot water. In the last 2 decades water has been warming to a point that the Coral reefs were dying of.
Must be all those glaciers calving. There's enough melting going on in the polar regions to cool the oceans.
And Finally, Population. There is just to damn many of us.
The Planet can't sustain this big of a population. It just can't.
Unless we wise up.
If we keep using the oceans as a dumping ground, we won't have to worry about any of this. They'll be no edible fish left in it.
This makes me think of all the nuclear testing done in the south Pacific. That's a whole different story. Radioactive food.
One more reason for me to NOT eat sushi.
Yuppies will continue, cause it's "the cool thing". Such a shame. Nobody hears this story, so we just go on destroying. What an ignorant species for being the "higher intelligence animal". Geeesh.
that's another thing - I went to a 'sushi' bar the other day in Auckland. There were only two fish to be seen there, salmon and cooked eel. No tuna. No shrimp. No squid. But lots of interesting things done with vegetables and even chicken.
Don't know why. But I was able to have some nice 'cool yuppie' sushi, also guilt free, as I didn't have either the salmon or eel.
I luvs me some sashimi. Yellow Fin tuna. Caught with a hook,line and pole. Fresh. Nothin is better when it's over 85 degrees outside.
Chilled to point where it's not quite frozen. Some pickled ginger and wasabi. And soyu sauce. Soy sauce works too,but soyu is better.
On a hot day with some sashimi and some ice cold beer.
Yuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I'm not into octopus or eel. Can't do those.
All the fish I eat come from either local fishermen or I go catch it myself.
I have to admit I do luv shrimp ceviche. That's another hot weather food. Shrimp, tomato's, onions, cilantro and Fresh lime juice. Mix raw shrimp with all of the ingredients(clean and cut the shrimp up) chill overnight. The citric acid in the tomato's and limes cook the shrimp. Eat with saltines. Super good.
Again, I get my seafood from local fishermen.
And I don't eat that much shrimp because it spikes your cholesterol levels. Not to mention the topic of this thread.
I also luvs me some Alaskan King Crab.
Damn, I'm gettin hungry.
Looks like I'm taking my wife out to dinner tonight.
ChartHouse here we come..:)
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