Seafood in Crisis – Sustainability and Tracking may bring the solution

By Debra Atlas
Our world’s oceans are in crisis. The fish we used to savor at our dinnertables are being threatened by factors ranging from the  “plastic vortex” to mercury contamination.

In 2006, a stunning four-year study was released in the journal Science that predicted the world would run out of wild-caught seafood in 2048. Overfishing was one of the major factors scientists pointed to as a cause of fisheries decline and habitat degradation.But there’s a slim ray of sunshine. A West Coast pilot program has been gaining momentum that allows consumers to track where the fish they buy came from, right back to the boat and the fisherman who caught it!

Pacific Fish Trax is a program run by the Seafood Consumer Center and funded by the state of Oregon. Originally formed in 2005 in order to develop new methods of helping fishermen conserve weak salmon runs, it tracks western fish like albacore, salmon and tuna on its journey from the rivers and the ocean to the dock, and on to your supermarket. The program also includes fish genetics and the conditions of marine ecosystems.

Pacific Fishing Trax was one man’s vision. Fisherman Scott Boley realized that having a centralized website would bring together scientists, managers, fishermen, and marketers and help connect them with people who cared about sustainable fishing, habitats and the communities whose lives  depended on these increasingly fragile resources.

To track salmon, hoping to keep fishermen away from weakened salmon stocks and steer them toward healthier ones. California began its own pilot program in 2007.

Tagging salmon as part of Pacific Fish Trax

In 2006, Oregon researchers began recruiting commercial fishermen to tag and map chinook salmon to follow their migratory patterns. The state of Washington began their own pilot program

This was the first time all three states had such tandem programs.

It’s hoped that by improving the traceability of our fish, it will help buyers choose fish that’s good for you and that doesn’t hurt the ocean and be harder to pass off “farmed” fish as the more popular wild kind.

There’s currently a conference on this topic taking place in San Francisco – the Sustainable Seafood Multi-Stakeholder Summit. The agenda covers issues including:

• defining sustainability
• wild versus farm fish
• sustainable aquaculture practices

All are hopeful that tangible results will come from this conference. Afterward, the Online Collaboration Network will coordinate sustainability, certification and traceability communities progress. A follow-up conference - ”Sustainable Seafood Asia’ - will take place in the spring in Bangkok.

Knowing where your fish comes from could be an important key to making sure our children’s chidren know fish as more than a textbook reference.

Other Posts from Debra Atlas:

Green Gadget Spotlight: PowerGenix’s Powerful NiZn Rechargeable Battery

Human  Rights of Greenpeace Anti-whaling Whistleblowers Were Denied by Japan

Seafood in Crisis-Sustainability and Tracking May Bring the Solution