Smart Gear
April 24th, 2005“It’s just common sense to create smarter fishing gear.”
Bycatch is the harvesting of non-target species when fishing. Globally, it’s a pretty major problem. Kills a lot of sharks, turtles, big seabirds, etc. Bycatch also refers to wrong-size (too small, too big) or wrong-sex fish (only male crabs harvested). And it’s expected to get worse as fishing efforts intensify in the near future (demands for seafood are BOOMING!)
If you’ve seen the movie The Perfect Storm, you might remember that part when dreamy George Clooney and the other swordfishermen pull up a shark. Whoops. (that was a “long-line” operation, as mentioned in the links below). Similarly, you’ve probably heard of “dolphin-safe” tuna. Or maybe you’ve gone fishing yourself, and had to throw back the non-”keepers.”
Environmentalists don’t like bycatch because it kills lots of sea beasties. Fishermen don’t like bycatch because it wastes their time, bait, net space, boat fuel, etc. Also, it depletes fish stocks for other fishermmen (in the Gulf of Mexico, mackerel guys hate the shrimp guys…grrr!) Not good for anyone.
The solution to bycatch is likely in (1) fishery management policy and (2) better fishing gear design.
The annual Smart Gear competition just announced this year’s winners for fishing gear design stuff: http://www.smartgear.org/release.2005.04.21.php#winners
Some previous work in this field has featured circular fishhooks (instead of traditional J-shaped hooks), “turtle excluder devices” on shrimp trawl nets, and even annoying-sound-emitters to alert dolphins of nets.
MSNBC article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7601005/
Maybe Vestal could enter in this comp. next year? A good opportunity for some loser engineers to directly help conservation efforts.
that’s gotta hurt!
Popularity: 4% [?]
April 24th, 2005 at 2:42 pm
Oh shit! Forgot to credit the photographer, Jeff Rothman. BBC Underwater Photographer of the Year some years back.
see here:
http://www.jeffrotman.com/
April 26th, 2005 at 12:45 am
definitely a worthy cause, thanks dave!
p.s. can you give us the link to the site where we can print out a “these are okay fish to eat on the east/west coast” pocket guides?
April 27th, 2005 at 2:06 am
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program http://www.montereybayaquarium.com/cr/seafoodwatch.asp
This is my favorite “sustainable seafood guide.”
1) VERY well researched (read one of their background info reports for each species—great detail).
2) Smart critera for each species listed and categorized (again see their detailed reports)
3) Frequently updated according to new research
4) They’ll send you a lot of Seafood Watch cards…FOR FREE!!! I carry 2 in my wallet to hand out to random hott babes. I also leave them tucked into restaurant menus and supermarket seafood displays.
But of course, consumer-level change is only one part of the fight towards sustainable fisheries. Bigger (more important?!?!) issues are in economics, industry management and technology (e.g. fishing gear).
April 28th, 2005 at 7:34 am
Yeah, interestingly, a friend of mine who worked at the Aquarium (probably more like herding kids than feeding sharks, but whatever) said that while the card handout program met with some success, a big difference came from an event they held for area chefs – many of whom simply never thought about the sustainability of the fish they cook. Since they control the menu, many of them were able to put the Aquarium’s advice to work.
Also: am I wrong that the cards change yearly due to the condition of the particular species’ conditions?
April 28th, 2005 at 11:02 am
Yup. The cards usually change every few months according to new research from fisheries biologists (government, private NGO and university researchers). Pretty important since some wild populations fluctuate a lot in short timespans (in various regions!)
MBA is also constantly expanding the program to cover more species in more regions. I mean, what the hell is “opah”? (Just kidding. It’s a big open-ocean, red-meat fish. Gigantic, actually…)
1) It’d be cool designing an “interface” (I heard Mike say this once) that allowed consumers to readily access the most accurate, up-to-date Seafood Watch card. Maybe integrated into cell phones, PDAs, restaurant menus, supermarket seafood displays or shopping carts. “Is eating tilefish okay for the environment?? My belly says ‘yes’, but my fish-interface says ‘no.’” Almost nagging consumers into making smarter seafood decisions.
2) Though, none of this would be necessary if the seafood industry cooperated more. Smart restaurant chefs planning sustainable menus. Supermarkets only stocking “Best Choice” fish. (even “eco-friendly” Whole Foods doesn’t do this!) This FORCES consumers to make good decisions. Though I guess they stock fish based on consumer demands, huh?
3) AND this cooperation from restaurants and supermarkets wouldn’t even be necessary if fisherman didn’t even catch non-sustainable fish in the first place. But I guess that’s tied into #2, market demand.
So, yes, consumer-level green-purchasing is a good thing and important.
April 28th, 2005 at 11:10 am
About “sustainable menus”:
Chefs Collaborative
and their
Sustainable Seafood Primer
I think the primer is an EXCELLENT outline of the serious seafood issues (in plain language). It also provides a list of ways chefs and consumers can help with solutions (menu selection/planning, boycotts, etc.)
August 18th, 2006 at 12:29 am
[...] Related Posts: Designing Against Bycatch, Seafood Watch, Exportation and Explotation of E-Waste [...]