Something’s Fishy.
Fish.
It’s a topic that many look at and think, “What does that have to do with me?” When I first moved to Alaska and heard that there was an entity called “The Board of Fish” I had no earthly idea what it was. I thought of a long shiny table in a dimly lit meeting room and a row of creatures that looked like the fish footman in Through the Looking Glass. Then I realized that it was actually a Board of People who talked about fish. What did I know? I was a kid from the east coast who never thought about fish beyond what I bought at the grocery store on a little piece of styrofoam. When I was little I’d catch an occasional snapper from the shores of Long Island with my bamboo fishing pole, a hook and a bobbin. But that was the extent of my experience.
But fish in Alaska (and really everywhere) is a lot more than “fish.” It’s more than a choice on a menu. Fish DOES have something to do with you, and me, and everyone.
Corporatism. It means making decisions about factory trawlers that take pollock for fish sticks and kill anything else caught in the net, including healthy wild salmon that would have gone to feed people and sustain a local commercial fishery.
Subsistence. It means fish that are caught as a staple food, as the meals people eat every day as they enjoy the bounty of their wild land.
International treaty obligations. How many fish do we keep, and how many pass into Canada? What should we do if, like this year, Canada had enough to open a sport fishing season for king salmon, and Alaska’s rural residents are going without food?
Jobs. Commercial fisheries in Alaska are closing due to lack of salmon, or are threatened by massive development and the specter of huge mines that are destined to toxify now-pristeen waters.
Health. Do we want to eat farmed salmon, that live unnaturally swimming in their own waste, and are colored with dye to make them look appealing, or must we preserve the wild salmon that are healthier for our bodies?
Environmental conservation. What’s more important – creating new jobs for the next 50 years of resource extraction, or preserving the commercial fishing industry for hundreds of years for those who already have jobs. Our oceans are all connected, and how we sustain them affects everyone and fisheries worldwide. Farmed salmon creates hazards for all fish, spreading disease and deadly sea lice to wild populations.
Rural preference. Do we subscribe to the theory that fish resources should be equally accessible to all Alaskans, or do we recognize that there may be a difference for people who do not have easy access to other food sources, or who have depended on the fish for thousands of years as a cultural and physiological part of their daily existence?
Civil disobedience. How will we deal with people who say, “Enough. I cannot watch trawlers waste tens of thousands of fish every year, and let the bulk of the few surviving ones swim past me while I have no source of income, no source of food, and no means of survival for my family.” Those people are now fishing illegally to feed elders and widows and children. What will we do?
Sport. Fishing is a huge tourist draw for the state, and the #1 recreation for Alaskans. How do we balance sport, commerical and subsistence fishing for the maximum benefit of all?
Culture and tradition. Like the buffalo were to the plains indians, so are the salmon to the indigenous people of the Northwest coast and in many places around the world. The catching, preparation, cooking, preserving, and eating salmon are woven into the seasons and traditions of native peoples.
Nobody can effectively govern, or attempt to influence policy, or live and breathe in the state of Alaska without bumping up against FISH – the physical beings, and all that they represent.
If you missed Moore Up North this week, I’ll give you a second chance. Shannyn Moore joked that they must put Ambien in the coffee at fisheries meetings because they are so boring the coffee doesn’t work. But this week’s show, that was dedicated to fish issues had a great panel and lively conversation. No matter where you live, get educated about fish because it affects your pocketbook, your health, your neighbors and your planet.
I’m including one ten minute segment from Moore Up North here. Check out the Moore Up North YouTube channel for the rest of the show.
Then watch this video that talks about the hazards that open net salmon farms pose to marine ecosystems worldwide. It is eye-opening and it will change what you buy.
And remember…
This was interesting but the thing which struck me most was the silence of the woman to Shannyn’s left… what was her purpose to this discussion?
Ocean-going fishermen can tell you stories about perfect storms but they usually mean the weather. If the fishing situation is 100 times worse this year than last, then there’s a perfect storm brewing.
Dr. Woody was featured exclusively in the first segment and appears also in the other five. She’s really great and worth checking out the other clips. AKM
That was a good video clip. Alexandra Morton is a serious advocate for the Wild Salmon industry. With her scientific background and her quest to educate the public about the ravages of the un-checked salmon farmed industry in Canada and what it has done to their commercial salmon harvests. Well, that and along with very relaxed fisheries management from the Canadian government (basically no clue) is why the Norwegians have targeted Canada. Relaxed regulations. A few years back I had relatives from Norway visiting and they were thrilled to see how we were educating tourists traveling through our community about how destructive the farmed salmon industry can and could be to our coastal communities.
Hold on to your hats………the battle is coming with offshore acquaculture in Aaska’s federal waters. This is huge business for the Norwegians. Second to the oil industry in Norway. They are looking at taking the old oil platforms that are no longer in service, just sitting out there in our State waters and moving them into our federal waters and using them for open ocean fish farms. They will be out of sight, but not out of mind. This will be a battle for all Alaskan’s to join.
I do have to chuckle at the red bumper sticker they have at the bottom of the video clip. Gee I wonder where they got that idea? I know, it’s a form of flattery when someone copies your ideas….since this is a universal cause, then I am ok with it.
Let me introduce you to:
http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/
http://www.thevenusproject.com/
This is where the future lays….change is the only constant in the universe and we can not stop it.
All of the technologies we use are in a constant state of improvement and modification. Yet our social system and values remain largely static.
The only limitations to the future of humankind are those that we impose upon ourselves.
I’ve been trying to educate my friends about farmed fish for years. At least here in CA they have to label the fish in the market as “farm raised” or “dye added.” I mean, if they have to add dye to make it appealing, how fresh can it be?
here is a petition to sign……..
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farmed_salmon?rk=Vd3fgDdaxBCbE
Thanks for the 2 links Duane. And thank you Say NO.
I refuse to eat farm raised fish.
Thank you AKM for this post. It’s important to be aware of this.
I’m with you, austintx; I do not eat farmed raised fish– although there are a couple, like talapia, that do not eat ground up fish (they’re vegetarians lol) and do not harm the environment. I listened to an NPR program on this a couple of months ago. My butcher now labels all fish (origin) in his case, although he still carries farm raised. I can get flash-frozen Alaskan wild salmon from him all year. Worth the extra money-
Hi Mudflats, you, your fellow Alaskans, and your readers might be interested in this article and video from the U of Colorado about the collapse of Alaskan shores into the sea:
http://www.colorado.edu/news/r/fff17f8947aba3f5e502f0ed30adb9ee.html
All who are interested must watch the zietgiest movement orintation video in the left column once you enter the site.. You will be suprised to discover the truth about how the capitalist monetary system acctually works. I believe it’s what the Corporatoligist would rather us not understand. This video is very educational. It must be spread and taught to our youth so they don’t fall to the same skems of the past.
Also, too, please read the essays by Jaque Fresco on the Venus website. You will see there is a better future for all humankind.
Thank you AKM, making people more aware of this problem is the only way to bring changes to the system. It can’t be stressed enough how important the fish industry and it’s workings are to everyone- fish consumer or not. Thanks also to those posting more links to information.
CO, Talapia is very good, but I think most of what we find in the stores is farm raised in China. I always read packaging for where products, especially food, come from. I don’t trust China’s environment, they pollute everything and don’t seem to think it is a bad thing. So I don’t trust eating their fish.
In my area I’ve only been able to find canned Salmon that says it’s wild caught in Alaska. That’s about the only fish I’m eating these days.
If anyone knows of other fish that we can trust eating, please share info. thanks!
I take that back, lol, I eat tuna also, but only dolphin safe. Sea Net Tuna and Arctic Bay Salmon are two canned products that Aldi stores sell, unfortunately the frozen sea food they carry all seems to all come from China.
I think I will drop them a line…….last time I looked they didn’t have an email address though, dang we are so spoiled these days, lol. http://www.Aldi.com
I also know Sam’s Salmon has dye in it so it must come from a farm. I ‘think’ Walmarts Salmon comes from a Chilian farm.
We can write to these companies and ask for fresh, non farmed fish products. We’re good letter writers, lol.
Some info from Oceana North America on this Issue:
http://na.oceana.org/en/blog/2008/10/4-reasons-to-avoid-farmed-salmon
And another link to the Pure Salmon campaign itself. I certainly am off Farmed Salmon after that Video… Yuck!!!!
http://www.farmedsalmonexposed.org/
Below are some of the health risks with farm raised fish……this reminds me of hormone and antibiotic treatments given to cows and their affects in humans. We raised our own steer on pasture grass and hay, then had it butchered. We have a freezer full of meat that has lasted years, even after we’ve given a bunch to our two children and disabled neighbor.
“A close reading of supermarket labels shows that some wild salmon, high in “heart-healthy,” Omega-3 fatty acids, contain less than 1 percent fat. In contrast, factory farmed fish can be as high as 27 percent fat and contain 15 percent less protein. Despite efforts by governments and international agencies to limit antibiotics, harmful chemicals, and toxic substances in farmed salmon, the danger persists. Millions of fish—raised in close confinement, eating an unvaried artificial diet, and constantly exposed to their own wastes—mean inevitable exposure to harmful chemicals.
These compounds accumulate in the tissues of salmon and are passed on to humans. People who regularly eat farmed salmon face a higher, though still poorly understood, risk of retinal damage, cancer, resistance to antibiotics, and harm to reproductive and other organs.”
Read the PDF version, with sources and citations.
Thank you for your list of definitions, many people are very unaware how complicated and far reaching the subject of fisheries is. I know that you wrote these definitions very briefly, as each is a huge topic on it’s own. However, I felt a need to clarify a few of your definitions for the benefit of those who may not know:
Corporatism- need to add the word “Bycatch” which is what you are talking about here with non-targeted sea life being discarded. It’s a key word when looking at catch limits. Wanton waste could also be applied here. Wanton waste is a term most often used in discussions regarding subsistence harvests.
Environment conservation – There are two types of fish farming; closed and non-closed. Each have their positives and negatives, but it is the non-closed systems, the ones that use fish pens suspended in open water that cause the most environmental degredation. There is a place for fish farming, and indeed a large portion of the world’s food supply now comes from closed system farmed sea food; tilapia, catfish, shrimp, scallops, etc.
Salmon hatcheries also have a place in this discussion. And “deadly sea lice”?? All wild salmon carry sea lice – I know I used to come home daily covered with them, but it is the release of non-native fish species into the habitat, as well as the release of large amounts of anti-biotics, and fish waste into open water from penned fish that cause the most environmental hazards here.
Rural Preference – This means EVERYONE who lives in the Rural area – not those who live in the more urban areas who have easy access to grocery stores, has a right to subsist from the natural resources around them, not just the Alaskan Natives.
Say no to palin – montereybayaquarium.org has lists of safe fish and those not to eat. It is an interesting site and they send out up-dates. I find farmed fish scary.
Living near Seattle, I’ve become very fond of salmon. In fact, that’s usually what I order when we go to a restaurant. But lately, I’ve begun asking if the salmon is fresh. Last time out, the waiter said he thought it was farm-raised, so I thanked him for the info and ordered something else. He nodded knowingly.
A couple of years ago, we traveled with a friend and she wouldn’t eat Atlantic salmon. But I forgot to ask her why (she wouldn’t tell me at dinner. So, what’s up with Atlantic salmon? Is it coming from water that is polluted, or what?
I’ve worked extensively with the head veterinarian from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Everyone there is a proponent of making better choices as seafood consumers. Here’s more from the Monterey Bay Aq website– they even have an iPhone app listing best seafood choices (http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_iPhone.aspx)
Region specific downloadable pocket seafood guides: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx
The Super Green list includes seafood that meets the following three criteria:
* Low levels of contaminants (below 216 parts per billion [ppb] mercury 11 ppb PCBs)
* The daily minimum of omega-3s (at least 250 milligrams per day [mg/d])*
* Classified as a Seafood Watch “Best Choice” (green)
*The Best of the Best: October 2009
* Albacore Tuna (troll- or pole-caught, from the U.S. or British Columbia)
* Mussels (farmed)
* Oysters (farmed)
* Pacific Sardines (wild-caught)
* Pink Shrimp (wild-caught, from Oregon)
* Rainbow Trout (farmed)
* Salmon (wild-caught, from Alaska)
* Spot Prawns (wild-caught, from British Columbia)
**Other Healthy “Best Choices”
* Arctic Char (farmed)
* Bay Scallops (farmed)
* Crayfish (farmed, from the U.S.)
* Dungeness Crab (wild-caught, from California, Oregon or Washington)
* Longfin Squid (wild-caught, from the U.S. Atlantic)
* Pacific Cod (longline-caught, from Alaska)
I usually catch all that I eat, but if I need to buy fish I go to our farmer’s market and get fresh AK wild salmon & halibut!
The salmon from China is caught in huge drift nets in waters closer to our shores. Couple these huge drift nets which pretty well kill all the bycatch as well (dolphins, turtles, etc) with those despicable fishing practices allowed for our fisherman of scraping the ocean floor which destroys and lays waste to what is needed to sustain life, not to mention the coral. Add in the introduced alien species of North Atlantic salmon in pens which have a record of escapes into Pacific waters and, once again, the boys in suits are allowing OUR world and OUR children’s world to be destroyed for THEIR vile greed and profit. The following 2 articles from Macleans magazine (Canada’s Time magazine) are very worth reading:
www2.macleans.ca/2009/02/11/something-fishy-in-bc/
www2.macleans.ca/2009/11/09/what-a-waste/
Oops – maybe these links will work for above comment that I posted
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/02/11/something-fishy-in-bc/
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/11/09/what-a-waste/
I want to thank you all for teaching me. This has been a fascinating reading time. Thank you again.
The right question to ask isn’t whether it’s fresh, but whether it’s wild or farmed.
All fish on a market case is presumed to be fresh. But not necessarily ‘freshly-caught’. And freshly-caught fish isn’t all that. Properly done, frozen wild salmon fish is superior to “fresh” farm-raised. Think of this: Alaskans eat fish out of the freezer, home-packed by themselves.
Alaska salmon isn’t a year-around commodity. There are seasons for the different regions. Salmon can go from freezer to oven in tinfoil or a baking dish and cooks up nicely and quickly.
Nothing wrong with flash-frozen fillets. Fresh has been over-marketed. With a quality fish and good processing, you wouldn’t know the difference between a frozen fillet and a fresh one.
Labeling is not just what a producer wants to say – it’s regulated by law. Only Alaska product, which equals “WILD”, can be labeled as Alaska product. If it says “wild” on the label, it has to be Alaskan.
There are no other naturally-occuring commercially-harvested salmon runs left in the world. Norwegian, New Zealand, Atlantic, Chilean – these are all farmed fish or farmed stock that has replaced the wild species.
By the way ~ the bumper sticker originally said: “Just Say No To Drugs – Don’t Eat Farmed Salmon”
Farmed salmon lack color, so dye is added to the feed.
Thanks for pointing out just how bad farm raised salmon is to our health and the health of the oceans.
Monterrey Bay list is good, more can be found at:
http://www.healthebay.org/stayhealthy/seafoodguide/default.asp
There is also additional information and resources to learn more.
For those of you in the mid sections beware of your lake and river fish sources. Do you know what your pike has been swimming in?
Pat, re:Atlantic Salmon -
Nothing wrong with the fish, except that there are so few in the wild it is not fished commercially. Therefore, Atlantic Salmon = Farmed Salmon
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/species/atl_salmon.htm
One of the reasons I read this blog is the quality of your analytical writing. It is a pleasure to see postings of substance that well-written, insightful and often introduce humor into some rather scary and serious issues. You not only point to problems, you offer sources that might lead to solutions.
Additionally, the readers of your blog are intelligent thoughtful people who share information. This is what I believe the original developers of the world wide web intended: intelligent discourse through which we can lift each other up and improve our societies for everyone’s benefit. Thank you, one and all, for being a constant high-quality source of information and entertaining perspective when the topic needs it.
This posting will change the way my family buys and consumes fish. Thank you.
1. Great first illustration…. not Louis Carroll, but?
2. Surprised to see frozen ‘Pacific NW’ salmon for sale here in Berlin with so much in Norway nearer at hand
I’ll stand up for fish, particularly for wild caught Alaskan salmon. Several years ago I made my first trip to Alaska. It was a business trip, and I was working with the school in the village of Nenana (home of the Nenana Classic ice melt lottery, if you don’t know about it, look it up).
I stayed in the only public accommodation, the Rough Woods Inn, which consisted of 2 “apartments.” “Adequate housing,” as one of my colleagues in Colorado who had stayed there previously had described it. But I didn’t want to drive a rental car 2 hours each day from Fairbanks for a week to get to my destination, and I was up for local color, so the Rough Woods was my home for a week. It was a wonderful trip. I spent 2 days at Denali, the mosquitoes were in check, the flowers were beautiful, the people were colorful.
It was early July. One of my teacher hosts from the schools asked if I liked salmon, and brought me 2 huge filets, King and Sockeye, that he had caught and which apparently filled his family’s freezer. Copper River trip was part of his yearly fishing venture, as well as local fishing.
My apartment had a tiny stove, and I cooked salmon with potatoes, salmon with veggies, salmon with eggs, salmon sandwiches. If I’d stayed for a month, I believe I could have been the Julia Child of salmon. I love salmon, and had never had any as fresh as this. I was in heaven, and my boss shoulda been fiscally grateful that I didn’t eat out the whole week, but alas, he was a Republican.
I ate “squaw candy” — salmon dried outside on racks I saw scattered around town. I was told it was not PC any more to call it squaw candy, but man, oh, man, it was soft and sweet and yummy. I visited the one general store in Nenana and the smell of smoked moosehide trinkets permeated the display counters. The locals loved to talk about each other, mostly in unflattering terms. One store, 2 bars: native and non-native. One paved street. I could go on. It was quite the experience.
But the salmon — there were contraptions that looked like wooden water wheels on the river in which salmon were scooped. There were barge stations. Sled runs on the river in winter. The salmon was red! Sweet and red. Rich, like butter (scarce in Alaska; cows don’t do well in the winter.)
I’m thinking now of the Paul Simon song “Kodachrome.” “Mama don’t take my kodachrome away.” Since my visit, I’ve been very picky about my salmon, and lox. Only buy wild-caught, only buy if it is red, check the label for “farmed” or “coloring.” Expensive, but I can’t go back now. Save the salmon. Save all the wild fish. I’m willing to eat less and pay more for the real deal. Mama, don’t take my Alaska salmon away!
It is an excellent and informative article, along with so many comments that are so knowledgeable and great links!
I posted this a day or two ago on another thread, but it is quite appropriate for this one. This is for one of those mentioned by AKM to shop at, and the Briggs are the ones who made a wonderful home for Ann and her daughters after the loss of her husband Segundo Strongheart. Enjoy!
http://anonymousbloggers.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/creating-jobs-in-rural-alaska-feeding-the-crew/
What is the difference between King and Sockeye . .I know one is more expensive than the other and the taste is different. A friend bought some wild salmon back from I think some where in the state of Washington.She bought some to work for us to try.Can’t remember how it was cooked but I really did not care for how it was cooked though I love the red salmon that is canned. I used to be quite the fisher women and we ate all we caught.Only trouble I had was bate and taking the fish off.we would set up an assembly line to clean scale and fillet them.I don’t eat fish with bones left in.Salmon canned is different the bones if you can’t get them all are soft and won’t get caught in you throat.
I was very happy to see this article on your site this morning. The poor people of the Western Alaska Coastal area, especially us northwest of the Yukon River, have had to deal with subsistence salmon restrictions for quite a while now. Our culture and tradition has changed drastically in 20 short years. Our stable food use to be the Chum Salmon, commonly known as Dog Salmon. Our Chum Salmon runs have been depleted by other more powerful corporate fishers out in the Bering Sea and down the coast on the Alaska Peninsula in the False Pass area. Our people are forced to subsist now on the Pink Salmon, commonly known as Humpies. We have no choice but to subsist on the poorest quality of the salmon species these days. It’s like throwing the dogs a bone with no meat on it. Thank you for putting this article on your website. We need to help the wild Alaska salmon survive before it’s too late.
I’d like to commend Tim Smith of the Nome Fishermen’s Association for his perseverance and his dedication. He has been contributing his professional opinions as a Biologist for going on 30 years in the Nome area. I’ve been following the stories of his efforts in The Nome Nugget all these years. We who are afraid to stand up against wrong amongst our own people applaud his efforts to bring justice and equality to our isolated part of the world. Thank you Tim Smith for taking the fish by the tail and shaking it until it’s slime scatters all over the world. We need to save Alaska’s wild salmon before it’s too late.