15-03 Overfishing

It was March 1947, and our family was in Belfast visiting our grandparents. As a treat our father took us out to eat at a local hotel, and the only meat on the menu was seagull.
But the fish was sole from the Irish Sea. No problem eating sole. Dad explained that sole was plentiful, and a staple in the Irish diet.
Plus, potatoes, of course, and there were three types; mashed, boiled and roasted. And that’s what they served no matter where you went.
But today, the Irish sole is facing extinction because of overfishing. Not unlike the Northern Cod in Newfoundland which is facing a slow comeback since its collapse in 1992.
Then there is the potential loss of the Blue Fin Tuna. And apparently, sharks are also facing extinction because about a hundred million are caught each year for their fins, which make shark fin soup.
What is so frustrating as we all face the dangers of overfishing is that it is so hard to regulate. Apparently, about 20% of all fishing is illegal. And that is a big factor in depleting fish stocks.
Enjoyed my visit to Iceland in 2009 where they take real pride in regulating the fishing industry to protect their feed stocks. Not a great pace for raising cattle, so fish are important.
There was a time when the fish in the sea seemed to be a limitless bounty, but no more. The world is focused on a potential disaster if we do not have fish as a source of protein.
I started focusing on this issue after visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium where they have the most amazing exhibits of jellyfish. And it is a place where they are breeding the bloody things.
Is this what they call animal husbandry? I do not have a problem breeding horses, but jellyfish is a bit too much.
We all need to understand jellyfish because it seems everywhere there is overfishing there is an explosion of jellyfish.
Of course, if we are overfishing things like tuna and sea turtles that eat jellyfish that might be part of the explanation. They call explosions of jellyfish, “blooms”.
The photo of a turtle eating jellyfish is interesting. The problem is when people throw plastic bags into the ocean, they look like jellyfish and can kill turtles who see them as a meal. But that is another subject.
The big problem re jellyfish is related to scooping massive amounts of small fish like sardines and anchovies out of the ocean because these are the fish that eat the eggs and larvae of jellyfish and keep their populations in check.
Today we have an explosion of jellyfish in the Sea of Japan, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.
The solution! Eat these yucky or yummy things. Of course, stay away from the poisonous tentacles.
I did see them for sale in Japan in 1987 outside the Tsukiji Fish Market, right in central Tokyo. It seemed to be a weird food source at that time, but will soon become a staple.
This famous fish market sells over 3000 pounds of fish per day, but you must arrive around 5:30 am to see the fish auctions. Not that crazy about fish.
Interesting looking at the supply of fish at the supermarket here at home. Tilapia, catfish, salmon and other species are increasingly being produced in fish farms. No surprise there. But our northern cod is still caught wild, and it is special.
Hate the thought that people around the world will have to learn to cook and eat jellyfish, but that is our future. Yucky or yummy.
That’s the way I see it anyways.