Boston seafood show 2

I just rolled into my hotel at midnight, after a full (FULL) day of meetings and events. Here's a photo showing just a small part of the display areas, where you can find someone selling just about anything that swims. How would you like your kampachi?

photo: a small part of the seafood displays at the Boston Seafood Show

I did my part, talking about how to fix problem fisheries. Then the whirlwind began with a cocktail party, dinner, and a desert party. Meetings and discussions with drinks and seafood, reay getting down to shared goals and agendas. I truly coudn't believe it I walked out of the fancy desert party at 11:35pm. The ice cream was out of this world, to say nothing of the dinner at the sushi restaurant. Can you spell t-o-r-o? Am I excommunicated yet?

Attending this meeting is a trip for a conservationist, because the focus is on fish as seafood, not fish as part of an ocean ecosystem. Is there a place for seafood in our future oceans? I think so, and so does this crowd. Can environmentalists buy in to the concept? We'll see.

A couple of lessons. Farmed fish is more and more important, and conservationsits are going to have to figure out how to live with farmed fish. International perspectives are essential, because fish are shipped across jurisdictional boundaries and it's no good to think about what happens in one country in isolation. Finally, seafood is yummy, and our solutions have to bear that in mind...just say no to seafood is a tough sell.

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