Aussie Fish - What Not To Eat

Well - I have my copy of Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide from the Austrlian Marine Conservation Society. I recommend you get a copy yourself - they're just 10 bucks and they come with a little pocket sized guide to take with you shopping or when you get that fish 'n chips craving.

They've divided the fishies into 3 categories. Say No, Think Twice, and Better Choice.

The bad news is that there's an awful lot we shouldn't be eating and include both wild fish that are overfished or are of significant conservation concern, and also aquaculture species that are grown in sea cage aquaculture which they say adds additional stress to our coasts and oceans.

Here's the list of what they say NOT to buy. I'll put the 'Think Twice' and 'Better Choice' species on separate posts.

Blue Warhou - also called black trevally, sea bream, snotty trevalia (why'd you want to eat a snotty fish anyway?), and Tasmanian trevally.

Broadbill Swordfish - also called Swordfish.

Commercial Scallop - also called king scallop, southern scallop, Tasmanian Scallop.

Eastern Gemfish (Hake) - also called hake, king couta, kingfish.

Orange Roughy - Also called deep sea perch, sea perch.

Oreo - Deep sea dory, spotted dory, dory

Redfish - also called nannygai, red snapper.

Shark (Flake) - species include school, whalers, dogfish, tiger hammerheads, wobbegongs, skates, stingrays and chimeras.

Silver Trevally - also called sand trevally, silver bream, white trevally.

Southern Blue-fin Tuna - also called tuna.

Atlantic Salmon - also called salmon, smoked salmon.

Barramundi - also called barra, giant perch, silver barramundi.

Mulloway - also called butterfish, jewfish, king jewfish, kingfish, river kingfish.

Ocean Trout - also called brown trout, rainbow trout, sea trout.

Snapper (Pink) - also called pink snapper, cocknet, red bream, squire.

Yellow-tail Kingfish - also called kingfish, tasmanian yellow tail, kingie, yellow-tail.

End of the Line - A film about a world with no fish

This doco was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival - it's about to be screened in the US
and in UK.

"It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi;

the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation."

Filmed over two years, The End of the Line follows the investigative reporter Charles Clover as he confr nts politicians and celebrity restaurateurs, who exhibit little regard for the damage they
are doing to the oceans."

http://endoftheline.com/film/

I hope it comes to Australia! I think we need to see it.

Seafood and Sustainability

I've just read Loving Fish, This Time With the Fish in Mind
by food guru and New York Times columnist Mark Bittman. The article is about the world's depleting fishstocks and the difficulties involved in knowing how to purchase fish so that you're not contributing to the problem. It's actually quite alarming - I suspect we live in a bit of a la la land here in Sydney as far as how sustainable our seafood supply is.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society have published Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide to help consumers navigate through the murky depths of ethical fish consumption. I'm going to purchase a copy (they're about 10 bucks) and will let you know what it says in a future post. It's a shame that you have to buy it and can't access the guide online. If anyone knows of another source of information for what seafood to avoid and what to buy in Australia then please post or comment below and let us all know!

EVENT: Dr Shiv Chopra on food safety

Dr Shiv Chopra tour

Dr Chopra has been called a hero by David Suzuki and Vandana Shiva. A former Senior Scientific Advisor at Health Canada, he is a microbiologist and internationally recognised contributor to the public debate on key food safety issues. He testified before the Canadian Senate, where his evidence led to the banning of Monsanto’s controversial Bovine Growth Hormone.

Dr Chopra will be giving public lectures in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Dr Chopra has a vital message for Australian policy makers - the security of our food supply must be safeguarded. He is in Australia to launch his new book, Corrupt to the Core, that challenges the scientific and policy basis of food safety regulation in Canada.

Tour dates

Canberra
Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 1pm
Parliamentary Committee Room, Parliament House
Public Meeting hosted by Senator Siewert
Please RSVP to bridget.halbert@aph.gov.au. If attending from outside Parliament House please call 02 6277 3587 on arrival.

Sydney
Thursday, June 18, 2009, 6.30pm
Theatre, Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Surry Hills

Perth
Saturday, June 20, 2009, 2pm
Lotteries House Conference Room, 2 Delhi Street, West Perth

Melbourne
Tuesday, June 23, 6.30pm
The 60L Green Buliding
60 Leicester Street, Carlton

For more information on Dr Shiv Chopra see: www.shivchopra.com
For more information on his Australian tour contact 1300 133 868 or geneethicsevents@gmail.com

Japanese "Plant Factories"

From the UK's Daily Mail a story about giant vegetable growing factories that have started to produce chemical free, sunlight free, soil free, bug free, as far removed from nature as possible vegetables. According to the article, the Japanese goverment is encouraging the development of plant factories because of concerns about the use of chemicals in vegetables , and contaminants in the air.

Tour Of The White House Organic Garden

From the White House's YouTube Channel - Ryan Howard of the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies (no idea what they are - obviously some high profile American Sportsman) recently got a tour of the new White House garden and spoke with White House chef Sam Kass about the importance of a healthy diet.

Declining global food security: the scientific challenge of our generation.

So says Julian Cribb* in an opinion piece published on the ABCs website today.

In A Hot, Hungry World Cribb says that in order to avoid wide scale famine, wars over basic resources and a doubling in the number of refugees, we need to double world food output.

Cribb calls for a rapid increase of investment in Agricultural science which he says has been long neglected.

The world - including Australia - has to understand that agriculture policy is defence policy. It is refugee policy, immigration policy, environmental policy and climate as well as health, food and economic policy. No food, no stability, no government.

Yet for decades we have been eroding our technological investment in this vital field. The issues raised here are quite capable of being solved with good science and sound institutions, as they have been in many countries in the past. Now they need to be solved at a global level and with the active help of every person.


*Julian Cribb is the principal of Julian Cribb & Associates, specialists in science communication. He is Adjunct Professor in Science Communication at the University of Technology Sydney and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.