Monday, March 16, 2009

Boston seafood show 3

Day 2 of the Boston Seafood Show, and my stamina is wearing out. Meetings, meetings, and new people to meet and talk to about fish and seafood and conservation.

Is there a recession? You woudn't know from the size and grandeur of some of the seafood displays here. Maybe it's whisting through the graveyard, but there seems to be plenty of money being spent to sell seafood.

Sustainability is everywhere, in word if not in deed. People promise they have sustainable products, and that's a good sign. It's no longer difficult to get seafood business people to talk about sustainability. Now comes the hard part, making all those promises real.

One issue that is looming bigger and bigger in my mind is illegal, unreported, and unmanaged fishing (IUU fishing). It will matter more and more, and efforts to stop it are going to change the seafood business.

I think currents will come together to make seafood safer, better, and more transparent, so that people will know what they're eating when they eat seafood. Seafood fraud has got to end, and the industry seems aware and active on this serious problem. It will help sustainability as well, by allowing people to know what they're buying.

Now for some sights and sounds and tastes. First, the shrimpster, a custom motorcycle that mimics a--you guessed it--shrimp:


Then there's the polar bear booth:


The vulnerable species booth:


And finaly, Boston Harbor, where blogfish was drawn for a bit of rest. It looks peaceful and it's nice to know that the cleanup project is helping what was once one of the most polluted places in the US.


Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to take a water taxi to the airport on my way home. I love the water taxis and they're cheaper than a taxi with wheels.

4 comments:

Prabath said...

Cool post, I like it. Keep up the good work.

Prabath
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Anonymous said...

Cool shrimpster!

As a consumer, this issue is confusing. You are helping to shed some light. Just saw a release this morning on the over-dramatization of the health benefits of seafood for consumers and the negative impact there. Will be following this with great interest. Thanks for another great post!

Rich @ Quincy said...

I was at the show for a couple of hours today, and I agree you would never know that there still is a "recession" but it was a good sign. Lots of good samples and I brought home a bunch of good things to eat and cook with.
The Monk fish was a hit in it's appealing looks and "The Shrimpster" was a nice looking machine...

Trevor Smith said...

Hi Mark,
Do you have a higher resolution photo of the skate from the 2009 Boston Seafood Show? I'm working on a project for the Animal Welfare Institute on the growing market for skate wings and would like to use your photo, if you'd be willing to share it. If so, could you email it along with a photo credit to trevor@awionline.org? A big Thank You in advance!