I came across this article while I was thinking about “gastronomic ethnography.” I don’t exactly know how this fits into my original idea, but I’m working on it. For now you can check out the entire article “HERE” or check my sample of quotes…
“The world’s insatiable appetite for fish, with its disastrous effects on populations of favorites like red snapper, monkfish and tuna, has driven commercial fleets to deeper waters in search of creatures unlikely to star on..” TV cooking shows.
The scientific jury is still out, but critics warn that the hoki fishery is losing its image as a showpiece of oceanic sustainability.
Moreover, the fishery won certification in March 2001 from the Marine Stewardship Council, a private fisheries assessment group in London, which called it sustainable and well managed.
“Most Americans have no clue that hoki is often what they’re eating in fried-fish sandwiches,”
When the stewardship council had to decide whether to recertify the hoki fishery as sustainable and well managed the WWF was strongly opposed.
The wildlife fund was overruled, and the council recertified the fishery in October 2007.
Last year, Yum Brands, which owns Long John Silver’s, issued a corporate responsibility report that cited its purchases of New Zealand hoki as praiseworthy because the fishery was “certified as sustainable.”
Now, Ben Golden, a Yum Brands spokesman, said hoki was “not on the menu.”
But the Blue Ocean Institute, a conservation group in East Norwich, N.Y., that scores seafood for ecological impact on a scale from green to red, still gives New Zealand hoki an unfavorable orange rating. The fish is less abundant over all, the group says, and the fishery “takes significant quantities of seabirds and fur seals.”
“We are currently working with both industry and government to rectify all these issues,”
“Working with industry and government…” what about local people, "real people", the fishermen; "the people" out there working the deep ocean, so "other people" can enjoy a nice fish-fillet in a fast food restaurant? This brings to mind a lot of questions I have been mulling over, about resource management (food produccion and power). The power arrangements that come with top d0wn (government run) management strategies. Its time we reconsider our definitions of sustainability (are we sustaining economic and power structures, are we sustaining resources, people, both, niether?) and think about which management strategies (could/can) foster horizontal, democratic, and effective, communication, between ALL the stakeholders, or "actors" involved.
P A Z
Bruce, nice article, nice that I don't eat fish in any fast-food place. This is just another example of corporate management damaging the natural balance of marine ecosystems. But the real question is that, Why don't they involve the local community, the locals with fishing experience in the supposed discussions to correct the problem? I think that the government won't solve the problem, I think they will just let it get worse.
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