It's Shark Week at Seafood Talk!

By sarajean on 5/31/10 6:46pm
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Have you ever had a close encounter with a shark in the wild? How about a strange shark meal? Have you ever touched a shark—and if so, what’s the weirdest shark you’ve ever touched? Share your stories at Seafood Talk!

While I’ve never touched, eaten, or seen a shark in the wild, I have seen a few in an aquarium here and there. They’re pretty amazing animals, don’t you think? For my shark story, I’m going to tell you about how to take action against the mass killing of sharks. Did you know that about 100 million sharks are killed annually by fisherman—73 million of which are killed for the shark fin trade?

That’s likely much more shark than anyone could ever eat. Because of this mass killing, some shark populations have declined by up to 99% within the past four decades—leading, of course, to extinction. Many shark species now face the threat of extinction due to overfishing.

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Save the Sea Lions

By sarajean on 5/24/10 8:32am
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As a pacifist, any execution makes me feel nauseated. I hate that we kill to show that killing is wrong. We are in league with so many countries with countless human rights violations when it comes to this practice, as many more developed nations have seen that it is barbaric to offer killing as a punishment for any crime.

This stance against violence, at least for me, extends toward animals as well. I was shocked to discover that at Bonneville Damm, located in Cascade Locks, Oregon, California sea lions are being killed in order to preserve the salmon the area fishermen make their living off of.

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How to Buy Pacific Salmon

By lisala on 4/28/10 8:15pm
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There are three main categories of salmon you'll find when you're shopping for fresh salmon at your local fish market or grocery store. First, the salmon may be fresh wild salmon, caught by fisherman. Secondly, the salmon may be carefully cultivated in salmon farms. This is very common all over the world. But the Pacific Northwest is not one of the places you'll likely find farmed Salmon (farmed salmon is most commonly Atlantic salmon), and wild salmon fishing is very strictly regulated. Thirdly, both wild and farm salmon can be sold frozen, or may have been previously frozen (often while at sea) and then thawed by the market. All three are potentially edible salmon, but you need to know how to buy salmon, and why you might want to avoid farmed salmon.

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Trader Joe’s Gets Greener

By sarajean on 3/29/10 9:13pm
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Remember that big Trader Joe’s campaign going on to get the company to stop selling endangered fish like Chilean sea bass and orange roughy? Greenpeace launched one of their famous all-out campaigns against the company, calling them “Traitor Joes” and giving them their own little website, cartoon, Facebook page—the works.

Environmental and animal rights activists the world over spoke up against the store’s practices, deeming the sale of such threatened species as crimes against humanity—okay, as at least really bad things to do. This campaign lasted for several months, during which Greenpeace and activists pressured Trader Joe’s to get greener with its fishing policies and to stop putting endangered animals on the menu.

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Support Sustainable Farm Fishing

By sarajean on 1/30/10 1:33am
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What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of seafood? (Besides some idiot mumbling, “See food!” as he proceeds to unveil what amazing thing he’s masticating in his jowls for all to see.) Does Deadliest Catch come to mind, maybe? Or the Modest Mouse King Rat video? Whatever it is, it probably involves some men in plastic-looking coats out on the open sea, dragging in nets of catch to be used at your nearest Long John Silver’s.

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The Mercury Problem: Finding Safe and Healthy Seafood Options

By Niki Fears on 1/13/10 2:02pm
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tunatunaWe have all heard about the importance of adding healthy fish to our diets, yet there are a number of problems with the commercial fishing industry that leads to the destruction of the ocean and depletion of fish stocks. In addition to environmental problems that can be caused by commercial fishing, the coal industry and other dirty industries have polluted the rivers and oceans to the point that there is a rising level of harmful mercury found in much of the seafood that is available. So in addition to finding ocean friendly seafood, how can you also select healthy choices that will be safe for you and your family? It is important to get acquainted with the mercury issue and know which choices are safer and which will have higher rates of mercury that can be potentially dangerous.

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How to Choose Ocean Friendly Seafood

By Niki Fears on 1/11/10 9:20pm
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Fisheries around the world are in serious trouble, with many facing a complete collapse due to unsustainable and destructive fishing practices that have wrecked havoc with the ocean's ecosystem and depleted many fishing stocks to near extinction. This can pose a dilemma for those seeking the important health benefits of including fish in your regular diet. So how can you still find ways to fit in the important health benefits of seafood in a safe and ocean friendly way?

To find safe, ocean friendly seafood you need to know three things:

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California Supports Sustainable Seafood

By sarajean on 10/24/09 12:30am
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While unsustainable fishing practices threaten to wipe out schools—entire species, even—of fish worldwide, people are standing up against the greed and environmental destruction and taking action.

While much remains to be done, there are plenty of stories out there that prove that there is plenty of hope—and that people in power give a damn, too. From Seafood Watch to the makers (and viewers!) of The Cove, people are not taking these oceanic issues lightly.

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Ever Wondered What's In That Filet 'O Fish? Now We Know!

By erika on 9/10/09 2:14pm
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I went vegetarian-ish earlier this year, and I have eaten a lot of Filet 'O Fish sandwiches since then.  (I call myself "vegetarian-ish" because I do eat seafood.  And as you may have noticed, fish is not a vegetable.)  I have had ample time to study the little cardboard box, with its printed message that "McDonalds Supports Sustainable Fishing."  Conspicuously missing from the box is any information on what kind of fish is in that Fillet!


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Support the Recovery of Wild Salmon

By sarajean on 8/30/09 2:17pm
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If you’ve ever watched salmon spawn—okay, you probably have never actually sat by the water and passed the time watching salmon spawn, but you’ve probably seen them on TV or something—you know what hell these little fish already endure just to reproduce. Hell, if our moms and dads died just trying to get us fertilized, they’d be like, no way, I’m heading off to the East Australian Current with the turtle hippies; screw spawning.

So it’s like adding insult to injury continuing on with Bush II’s federal plan for salmon in the Colombia and Snake Rivers—which was to pretty much sit and do nothing.

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