Monday, September 27, 2010

Orange roughy & hoki madness

More orange roughy will be caught by fishermen this year. Hoki catch limits are going up. Is this a sign of disaster or success?

Forest and Bird, an environmental group from New Zealand says we still shouldn't eat orange roughy.

Not surprisingly, the Ministry of Fisheries see it differently, increased fishing for hoki and orange roughy is a result of good management.

At least one supermarket recently decided not to sell hoki and orange roughy because they're not fished sustainably.

It's sustainable seafood madness, as claims and counter-claims cloud the waters and threaten to make everyone say "WTF?" All because we can't agree on what exactly is "sustainable." How embarrassing for sustainability advocates.

If the sustainable seafood movement works, we should expect to see increased fishing for troubled species someday. Are enviros willing and able to back off on claims that people should avoid eating a species? Or will we keep species on the "do not eat" list forever, because we're stuck in a rut? I don't know enough about these fishing increases to know whether or not they're appropriate. But I worry that some people will never say "yes" to eating orange roughy or hoki once they've started saying "no."

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