Sea Monster

Tag: fishing

  • Let us eat (other people’s) fish

    Should Americans really eat more fish? In a recent op-ed in the NYT titled “Let Us Eat Fish” Dr. Ray Hilborn, a fisheries scientist at the University of Washington, argued we should. Ray thinks that because some of the hundreds of fish populations harvested in U.S. waters appear to be recovering and approaching levels that…

  • What fish is in a fillet-o-fish?

    Ever wondered what you are eating when you bite into a fish sandwich and whether that species is fished sustainably?  Probably not.  Well in case you are, Climate Progress has a nice article about it.  Read it here. And now a word from our sponsor (not really): [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EeEDKErYJ4[/youtube]

  • Ocean friendly seafood? There’s an app (or two) for that.

    So you’re out on a date at your favorite little romantic seafood bistro, looking at the menu with whatever sanitized name the marketers have just invented for Patagonian toothfish or slimefish or whatever. With all the conflicting information out there, how does the average civilian choose what to order without pillaging the ocean? Fortunately, technology…

  • Introducing Carl Safina, the bluefin tuna

    At the end of every Naked Oceans podcast there’s a bit where we ask a marine expert “If you were a marine critter, which would you be, and why…?” We’re nearing the end of our first series of podcasts and we’ve had all sorts of great species added to our Critter of the Month hall…

  • World without fish

    Another book on my to-read list (so no, this isn’t a review, just a suggestion). Mark Kurlansky has written lots of books about fish (Cod is still a bestseller after more than a decade – quite rightly) but this is the first one aimed at getting the message across to the younger generation that we…

  • Are farm-raised salmon “good” to eat?

    While working on a response to Ray Hilborn’s silly and misleading op-ed in the NYT urging American’s to eat more fish, I ran across a great article about the complex issue of choosing farmed versus wild-caught salmon (and other fish).  The article “The Wild Salmon Debate” is superbly written and the author, David Dobbs, is…

  • Waking from the Gluttony

    There is a great post from the Science Progress Fish on Fridays series excerpted below (go here to read in full). Many fisheries scientists were sure there was no way humans could make a dent in the seemingly endless abundance of fish in the ocean as late as the middle of the 20th century. But…

  • Belize fisherman foresaw the collapse of the reef ecosystem 40 years ago

    Belizean fisherman Villamar Godfrey. Photo by Clare Fieseler. Clare Fieseler is currently in Belize interviewing fishers as part of a lab study we have been working on for several years, investigating the effectiveness of fisheries management along the Mesoamerican Reef.  A chance encounter with fisherman Villamar Godfrey eventually led to the revelation that he had appeared in…

  • Destructive Fishing Practices

    Dynamite fishing, as depicted in the picture above, is pretty much what it sounds like: toss an explosive devise overboard (hopefully away from the boat), cover your ears and scoop up all the stunned and dead fish. Easy right? Problem is, this isn’t exactly sustainable since the act of fishing destroys the habitat fish need…

  • How not to save the environment: sharks as biofuel

    [Following is verbatim copy of a post from our cryptically named friend “WhySharksMatter” (aka David) at the Southern Fried Science blog. I’ve heard some pretty hair-brained ideas for getting the fossil fuel monkey off our backs, but this one is definitely a contender for the most bizarre as David explains ]. How not to save…