Saving trout in Switzerland

I was invited by a local fishing club to help save trout Swiss-style. It was an interesting and fun exercise in stocking trout, with kids invited along for the fun and education.

We went first to the St. Prex fish farm where the St. Prex fishing club raises lake trout and brown trout for planting in local streams. The trout are raised and planted by volunteers, with the supervision of the gardes-peche (fish guards). The operation was not totally streamlined, there was the typical Swiss concern for doing things "properly."

Our group collected 4000 fingerling (7-10 cm) trout and off we went with the trout in the back of the car, bubbling with oxygen and chilled. We were headed for the best stream in Gland, the Promenthouse, home of the Societe de pêche la Promenthouse, near the site of the medieval village of the same name that once had 500 people but was wiped out by the plague and never repopulated. It's a pretty little stream, but a western US eye says the watershed could use a bit of restoration and fencing to keep the cows out of the streams.

We divided the fish into buckets, carried them down to the stream, and placed them in small groups in fishy-looking places. The kids were absolutely overjoyed, and we definitely saw some kids upping their interest in fish, streams, etc.

The Lake Geneva brown trout was mentioned by Izaak Walton in The Compleat Angler, and human involvement with this stock of fish goes w-a-a-a-y back. Switzerland is an intensively used landscape, with people and farms just about everywhere they can be. And the trout are still here, so let's not ask too many questions about how and why.

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Swiss view on the Gulf oil spill

Disgust about poor handling of oil--from the land of trains that run on time.

Du café renversé chez BP - Videos streaming

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Eiglefin, haddock, and sustainability

It's time to start sorting through the seafood in my new home country, Switzerland. It's not a simple job.

Here is the eiglefin from my local Migros supermarché (right). At 28 swiss francs per kilogram (about 13 dollars per pound), it's a bit expensive, but most meat and fish is expensive here in Switzerland. That's challenge number one, I'm not going to be able to eat as much seafood as I did in the Seattle area, where seafood is king. Ouch.

So what about this eiglefin (french for haddock), is it sustainable? I'm an expert on this stuff, and I have to admit to being a bit stymied. After looking at a lot of information, all I can say is "mille millions de mille sabords de tonnerre de Brest." Roughly translated, that's "shut up and eat your fish."

I looked at some seafood guides, and it's frustrating to say that there's not full agreement. Different lists have fish caught with different methods in different places. To sort through the lists precisely, I need to know where it's from and how it was caught, and Migros only gives me part of the information. And even if I had full info, the lists don't always agree on what's sustainable. What am I going to do?

If I google Migros and seafood, I find this useful page on Migros seafood policies. It's informative and it encourages me to rely on Migros rather than try to figure out every detail on my own. Hmmm.... I think I like this. My life is being made easier by the WWF Switzerland Seafood Group, which includes Migros as a partner. Note: it doesn't say every fish is sustainable, but it does say that Migros is making the transition to sustainable seafood.

Now it's back to my french lessons, which at the moment consists of reading Tintin comics with the help of a dictionary. I'll be great at talking about L'ile Noire. What I really want to know is where can I get one of these awesome subs?

Oh yeah, and next I actually get to eat that yummy looking eiglefin, I can't wait...

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Carrying cheese to Gruyere

Snacking on gruyere cheese, just as I arrived in Gruyères was truly like carrying coals to Newcastle. They already had a few cheeses on hand (left, in the cave at La Maison du Gruyère).

I came to see the magnificent Chateau Gruyères (castle in English), and to see the home of the famous gruyere cheese, my favorite cheese in the whole world. And the story also has a few fantastic marine creatures as well.

There have been quite a few blogfish adventures in Europe in the last few weeks, but I'm sorry to report that work and a crashed hard drive have kept me almost entirely offline. Hope to fix that soon.

Limping along on a non-home base computer will have to do, because Gruyères was too good to keep to myself.

First, the castle, seen from a distance here (right) in an unbelievably spectacular setting.

I did manage to find some ocean life to keep the blogfish fans interested, like this pensive salmon (left) in a 150+ year old painting in the castle, perhaps the last of his kind to make it this far, who seems to be wondering when his kin will once again ascend to this Alpine region.




Then there were the two mermaids, one unique beast with stag antlers hanging from a wall (left), and the other one, a more delicate creature I found quivering on a shoreline (right), pictured here just before I got her back into the icy water. I hope she made it.

The castle dates from the 13th century and was truly impressive, with huge towers, cobbled floors, and the type of things that delight a 5 year old boy.











The town was charming as well (left), with the surprising addition of the HR Giger museum, honoring the local artist who won an Oscar for his work on the film "Alien." Here's an example of the delightful women in the town (right). Maybe this is real stuff, since there's a painting in the castle depicting the women of the town driving out attackers during a medieval battle (left).

Moving on to the gruyere cheese factory might have been anticlimactic if it wasn't the home of my very most favorite cheese. It was a bit of a tourist-trap kind of place, but the cheesemaking show was still fascinating, the cheese cave was truly impressive, and the cheese....ah, the cheese. It was every bit as wonderful as I had hoped, and I was dreaming high. Gruyere cheese is even better here, and it's one thing that cheaper than in the US (not much is cheaper, most things cost quite a bit more).

If you love cheese, castles, mermaids, and scary women, then Gruyères is THE place to visit.

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Blogpoisson

Here's the big news, the rebirth of blogfish is here.

Blogfish has moved to Switzerland, land of fondue and trains that run on time. Blogpoisson will continue as a personal blog, but drawing from my experiences as a person traveling the globe to work on sustainable seafood. How is this possible? Thanks to the good graces of the fine creature top right.

Blogfish lives, and swims in some new waters. Vive le Blogpoisson!

Just for fun, here's a photo of the Blogpoisson boos playing in the snow of St. Cergue in the Jura mountains with "Uncle Renaud" and Nelson of the fabulous Smith family that has adopted us as new found relatives. Oh, and the view of Mt. Blanc from our balcony, life is rough en Suisse.

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