MARCH 22, 2006
Here
it is months from summertime, and my mind is drifting off to the fish of the sea. Fishing for recreation and fishing for a living are two different things, but both styles of fisherman are beginning to take notice of a decline in fish species worldwide.
Fish is a source of protein for millions, a dining table delight for the affluent, and the livelihood of millions throughout the world: but over-fishing, coastal contamination, and pollution is depleting stocks all over the world. Let's look at two important species, and why they are indicator fish of the sea.
I grew up with a bamboo fishing pole, a bobber, and a little minnow on Nantucket Sound Massachusetts. It was always tricky catching the shiners and chubs that became my bait because they never swam in the direction I wanted, that is towards my little traps. Fishing was a source of joy for me as a young boy, and if I was lucky lunch or dinner, and something I took for granted as an eight year old in 1950.
It all begins with the minnows. Just 55 years later it is even hard to find shiners where I once did, and the chubs have completely disappeared.
Making the connection; if we lose the little fish the big fish will have nothing to eat and the little fish need the wetlands and coastal estuaries to grow into little fish. If those disappear or are polluted then the whole cycle is disrupted and the striped bass of New England will need another moratorium as they did in the 80's, just to recover enough to be fished again.
The re-emergence of bass is a success story because today you can catch bass, though still only one a day per fisherman. Today they must be 28 inches in length or more to take them home for dinner. I can remember when they had to be 36 inches, and that was after many years of not being able to catch them at all. Thus we have had success with this species of game fish. The biggest one we have every caught was Katy's trophy of a few years ago that was 42 inches. It was food for our family for 3 straight days. Our striped bass fish tacos were the best.
The blue fin tuna is another story. First of all, blue fin tuna are the Rolls Royce of fish in the sea. They command the greatest price per pound at market and are often caught illegally and sold illegally because of the extreme profits generated. Packed in ice and sent to Japan over-night, some tuna will command upwards of $100 a pound at market. Probed to judge the fat content, light 'burn' indicates tenderness and a premium, but the supplies are dwindling rapidly, in part because of stick boats. (The electronic death through harpoon)
Blue fin tuna are now being taken at spawning size off the mouth of the Amazon River where the brackish water nurtures the mothers and their young; roughly between 350 and 500 pounds, and in ever increasing numbers. Extinction is predicted for the blue fin. Therefore, no more Toro at the sushi bar.
Once again we see how the fork and our food choices can help in saving another part of the environmental puzzle. Consumers can choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution in a direct way with the fish chosen at the market or the restaurant. As we have said, take re-useable chopsticks and do not order toro, or the filet of the blue fin tuna. Try the belly of yellowtail and you will be eating something that is as tasty and from a fish that is not endangered.
--Peter