The harsh reality of fisheries

Artisanal Fisheries in the Northeast of Brazil - Photo by Simone Marques

"Most seafood eaters know the sad story of the Atlantic cod. The ill effects of the postwar buildup of industrialized American fishing are epitomized by that fish’s overexploitation: Gorton’s fish sticks and McDonald’s Filets-o-Fish all once rode on the backs of billions of cod. The codfish populations of North America plummeted and have yet to return."

"...According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, even though the United States controls more ocean than any other country, 86 percent of the seafood we consume is imported."

"...most wild Atlantic salmon populations have been fished to commercial extinction, and today a majority of our lox comes from selectively bred farmed salmon, with Chile our largest supplier."

"To make things triply strange, a portion of that salmon, after heading across the Pacific, returns to us: Because foreign labor is so cheap, many Alaskan salmon are caught in American waters, frozen, defrosted in Asia, filleted and boned, refrozen and sent back to us. Pollock also make this Asian round trip, as do squid — and who knows what else?"

"We can have no more intimate relationship with our environment than to eat from it."

These texts above were copied from a great report about where the fish that you eat come from, written by PAUL GREENBERG. 

After read this  terrific report about fisheries, the reality in my country is not so different. Really we don't know nothing about where the fishes and other marine organisms (lobsters, slumps, shrimps) that we eat come from and what's happen after the fisheries in the foreign trade. In these days all of us living in busy way, and we never stop to thinking about what we are eating and where this animal, fruit, vegetal come from. And how are the population of each species from marine ecosystem that humanity like and consume since they begun to explore?

In Brazil several products from fisheries are exported and we don't know what will make with this fishes in the other countries. Is a "swap"? In the other pathway several fisheries products are imported and we think this a good product produced by other country as salmon, Kani and others products used in Japanese and Chinese food for example. 

Now is time to think about it and look for where this food come from, how they were fished and where they were produced. Our country should have the rules and legislation in each food that you consume and how they are produced. You as a citizen could be informed better and try to consume more natural products from the coastal and marine ecosystems produces by our own country.

To know more about what's happening in the fisheries and their trade around the world click on the image bellow, enjoy and share with your friends!