Sea Bass? (AKA Why I dislike Red Lobster)

[Lady's Human]

For anyone who likes what's marketed as Chilean Sea Bass:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/asia_pacific/view/20121101fishing_thwarts_antarctic_marine_sanctuary _idea/srvc=home&position=recent


The species is overfished, as described in the book "Hooked: A True Story of Pirates, Poaching, and the Perfect Fish" (which, by the way is an excellent read)

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/12939001/ns/today-books/t/brokaw-explores-vanishing-chilean-sea-bass/

And now our appetite for commercial seafood has destroyed the chance to put an area of ocean off-limits to commercial exploitation.

I love seafood, but when I buy it, it's farm raised salmon or steelhead. Pay attention to where your seafood is coming from, and please don't contribute to the depletion of the oceans.

A couple more books on commercial overfishing are by Mark Kurlansky, one on Cod, one on oysters, telling the history of overexploitation and the damages that result.

[Karen]

By "Red Lobster" he means the restaurant chain, folks.

[Lady's Human]

Thanks fo the clarification, Karen.

(While I love Maine lobster, I can't touch it, durnit!)

[Lady's Human]

And the new regs are out for the 2013 commercial and recreational fishing industry in New England.

Strict catch limits for both commercial and recreational fishers.

The restaurant industry's reply?

We'll just import more from Norway and China.

<golfclap>

Yeha, I can just see Chinese Cod going over wonderfully on the menu.

The Icelanders had the right idea when they started cutting the lines on British trawlers in the 50s.

[Freedom]

The first link in the original post is from 2006. I had to scroll back up to the top to check, when I read that Chilean Sea Bass is "now" selling for over
$10 a pound, lol.

Big article in today's ProJo re the new regs on cod which take effect May 1; the fishing community here in RI will be hit hard by this. I'm not saying the regs are wrong, far from it, I agree we need them in place to protect cod.

[Lady's Human]

The new regs are needed, however, they're pretty weak.

Trawlers are still in business, which get a lot of bycatch (undesired or non-saleable species) when they make their runs.

Once a fish is caught, it doesn't do much good to dump it over the side, it's dead, particularly when you haul a fish up from 300+ feet of water.

Eliminate the trawlers, go back to longlining with biodegradable lines, and the stocks might get a chance to recover.

A running gripe in past years in the gulf of maine were a pair trawler operation which was officially going for herring (a midwater fish) which had more bycatch in cod and haddock (bottom feeders) than they had in herring on some runs (if you're catching cod and haddock your "midwater" trawl is about 150' too deep). The practice is now banned, but was supposed to be banned sooner, but someone put a setaside in the fisheries regs for those boats.

[Lady's Human]

The first link in the original post is from 2006. I had to scroll back up to the top to check, when I read that Chilean Sea Bass is "now" selling for over
$10 a pound, lol.


"Chilean Sea Bass" (It's neither chilean, nor bass) is a slow growing species that became popular because it was cheap and tasty. It was then overfished (surprise, surprise) regs were put in place, but the species was badly hurt by the commercial "success".

The first link is from 2012, the second link is from 2006, it was just an explanation of the title of the thread.

[Glacier]

If you're looking for more good reading in this area, check out "Voyage of the Turtle". It's specifically about sea turtle conservation, a cause near and dear to my heart, with a focus on the Leatherback turtle, but it covers much of the horrific damage we've inflicted on the ocean!

I don't eat seafood. I've never liked the flavour of anything that used to live in water! My husband enjoys it though. I am very careful about what I buy for him now!

[Lady's Human]

Thanks. Somehow I think I still have a few $$$ left on a Barnes and Noble gift card.

[moosmom]

I used to LOVE some seafood (lobster, shrimp, even littleneck clams on the half-shell). The last time I had seafood was on New Year's Eve in 1999. They had a sale on lobsters, buy one get one. I cooked them both and froze one. I was never SOOOO sick in my life!! Don't know what happened, but I haven't had seafood since.

I'm perfectly happy with vegetables and vegetarian burgers. With all the food scares going around and the GMO's , it's no WONDER people are getting sick and coming down with diseases no one's ever heard of.

Thanks for the heads up LH!

[pomtzu]

I love seafood - and sorry to say - I also love Red Lobster.

However I can't eat shellfish anymore (except maybe one or two tiny bites) since I developed an allergic reaction to them a few years ago. I can still eat my weight in flounder tho, but it and all fish has gotten so pricey that I hardly ever have it anymore. No - McDonald's fish sandwiches just don't cut it....:rolleyes: I remember when growing up, all seafood was cheap, and we had it for dinner at least once each week. Yes - increased demand and overfishing will skyrocket the prices as well as deplete the already declining numbers.