Smokestacks at sea

Last week, an old friend called me to gloat over Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of Senate Bill 974. This friend, who I will call Rutherford, works in the world of shipping. He was delighted that Arnold had apparently taken the advice of his fellow Republican governors -- Linda Lingle and Sarah Palin -- and rejected pollution fees for container ships for the second time. My friend Rutherford agreed with their analysis that even a $30 fee per ship would make U.S. ports less competitive and raise prices for consumers. Fair enough, though I think the weak dollar is a larger problem.

Since I also know many of the people who were down in the trenches alligator wrestling over the bill language for the last four years, I was hard pressed to share Rutherford's glee, though I appreciated the chance to catch up. But now it looks like his ships will be forced to cut their pollution after all, though on a much longer timescale. The International Maritime Organization just approved rules to cut sulfur emissions from ships over the next twelve years. The target is bunker fuel, a dirty beast you may remember from last year's Cosco Busan crash in San Francisco Bay. At the time, there was much debate over whether or not newer, cleaner fuels would have caused as many problems as the Busan's bunker fuel. I guess we'll find out.

Tweet

How safe are oil tankers, really?

An interview with a responsible official after an oil tanker accident and oil spill (humor).

Tweet

Save your favorite seafood, FishVote08

Finally, a new way for seafood lovers to help save their favorite unsustainable seafood!

Do you feel torn when you're buying seafood? Do you want to do good, but still find it hard to turn away from the long list of tempting but unsustainable items?

Now there's another option, go to Ocean Conservancy's FishVote08 and join the effort to improve your favorite unsustainable seafood.

How does this new option work? FishVote 08 is a direct effort to improve fishing practices for desirable but unsustainable seafood. Starting with the winner, Ocean Conservancy will identify practical steps towards sustainability for unsustainable fisheries and rally seafood lovers to support this progress. Actions might include supporting new regulations, rewarding seafood businesses that promote sustainability, and building markets that reward innovative fishermen.

Why is direct engagement the best approach for improving your favorite unsustainable seafood? Such high demand seafoods are not likely to be improved if consumers "just say no" to unsustainable seafood.

The "just say no" approach that tells consumers not to buy unsustainable seafood is based on a critical but questionable assumption. Relying on "just say no" assumes that the invisible hand of the marketplace will induce fisheries to improve when customers reduce demand. There are several problems with "just say no" to unsustainable seafood.

1. Reduced demand is unlikely to matter for desirable seafood items, since demand already exceeds supply (that's WHY they're in trouble!).

2. Problem fisheries tend to get worse when prices go down as fishermen struggle to make a living. If seafood buyers reject unsustainable seafood, the unfortunate result may be worse fishing practices.

3. Seafood supply chains are not controlled by retail consumers or fishermen, so there is no way for seafood consumers to "send a message" to fishermen through purchasing practices.

4. There are few opportunities for fishermen to innovate for sustainability and be rewarded by consumers. Barriers include perverse incentives in fishery regulations and lack of market outlets for innovative fishermen.

5. Inadquate labeling and traceability make it difficult for consumers to know what they're buying.

Check out FishVote08 and lend your voice to a new sustainable seafood movement. Let's roll up our sleeves and work together to fix unsustainable fisheries, rather than simply walking away and hoping the marketplace will fix the problems. These days, it's hard to have faith in the ability of the invisible hand to do anyting but slap everyone around.

Tweet

Plastics are a penis-shrinker

Men, don't let your sons chew on plastic unless you want them to have a small penis. That's right, chewing the wrong kind of plastic (with phthalates) causes male babies to have smaller penises.

Do YOU want YOUR SON to be the subject of this kind of ridicule (above right)?

This has got to be the death knell for phthalates. Shrinky dinks and pacifiers are on their way out if they mess with America's manhood.

Dealing with bad plastic products is a macho issue now.

Tweet

Gasping for breath

Ah Raquel Vaquer-Sunyer. You are a master of the dry wit. Here is the opening statement for your latest PNAS article:

Hypoxia is a mounting problem affecting the world’s coastal waters, with severe consequences for marine life, including death and catastrophic changes.

Yes, death is indeed a severe consequence. Also those 'catastrophic changes'.

Scientists don't use these words lightly, so the science-speak of this paper translates to a fire alarm. Hypoxic zones in the ocean, aka dead zones, are on the rise at a rate of about 5% per year since the 1970s and this is not just a case of better monitoring. No, we're talking about changes in the coastal zone, waters close enough to shore for fishermen and local residents to notice when fish start jumping onto shore. Some call it a "jubilee" where you can fill your basket with fish by walking along the shore. For the fish, it's just swimming from one suffocation to another.

Tweet