In New Zealand at the beginning of 2013 there was a massive wash up of dead Snapper (popular eating fish) onto one of the beaches which, in, not only my opinion, but others, has come from trawling nets ..... legal or illegal I do not condone trawling. Here's the link: Dead Fish you can imagine how this horrified N.Z.ers as well as global sea lovers.
Are people just plain thick? Can't they foresee that if this continues there won't be any fish. It's well known that trawlers have increased the time they're at sea because it takes longer to catch the required amount. Also illegal trawling is increasing as fish are being depleted from legal parts.
Not long after I heard about this I read the book "Killer Fish: How Eating Aquatic Life Endangers Your Health
" which certainly opened my eyes to the health risks people take when they consume fish. More so with farmed fish.
Researchers analyzed samples of farmed Atlantic salmon from different areas - Here's one of the findings that astounded me taken from the book:
"Total PCB concentrations in the farmed salmon were significantly higher than those in the wild Alaskan chinook samples. Organically farmed Norwegian salmon had the highest concentrations of PCBs; their TEQ [toxic equivalent] values are in the higher range of those reported in farmed salmon from around the world."
Well, you could blow me down with a feather….Organically farmed????? - that's outrageous.
But, of course, fish farms, like the meat industry, are over populated. Fish are crammed into areas which become breeding grounds for viruses.
With further research I discovered that a recent Harvard study (May 21, 2012) shows that toxic mercury is accumulating in the Arctic - source: Harvard News
"Mercury is considered a persistent bioaccumulative toxin because it remains in the environment without breaking down; as it travels up the food chain, from plankton to fish, to marine mammals and humans, it becomes more concentrated and more dangerous."
And, guess what, we are to blame for most of the mercury. In itself mercury really isn't that bad at all. It happens naturally, but in low levels. However, about half of the mercury released into the atmosphere comes from human activities e.g. burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, with contributions from waste incineration, mining and other industrial activities.
And so we come to pollution:
The amount of plastic floating in the Pacific Gyre - a massive swirling vortex of rubbish - has increased 100-fold in the past four decades. Plastic is the bane of our existence. Not only is it on land, but the effect it has on the ocean and the fish is simply outrageous.
People think that the oceans have unlimited inertia, but nano-particles of plastic are getting into marine life and the food chain which is affecting fish fertility rates, this, in turn, affects food security and coastal populations. Pollution is having a huge impact on the oceans.
Fish ingest an estimated 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic per year in the Pacific Ocean, according to research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
It's time we stopped treating our oceans as trash bins and started taking responsibility.
Our beautiful, forgiving and generous oceans are simply going to die if we don't stop over fishing and polluting them….they have enough to deal with already with climate change, let's not add to their burden……………maybe the "killer fish" is a way of payback.
Are people just plain thick? Can't they foresee that if this continues there won't be any fish. It's well known that trawlers have increased the time they're at sea because it takes longer to catch the required amount. Also illegal trawling is increasing as fish are being depleted from legal parts.
Not long after I heard about this I read the book "Killer Fish: How Eating Aquatic Life Endangers Your Health
" which certainly opened my eyes to the health risks people take when they consume fish. More so with farmed fish.Researchers analyzed samples of farmed Atlantic salmon from different areas - Here's one of the findings that astounded me taken from the book:
"Total PCB concentrations in the farmed salmon were significantly higher than those in the wild Alaskan chinook samples. Organically farmed Norwegian salmon had the highest concentrations of PCBs; their TEQ [toxic equivalent] values are in the higher range of those reported in farmed salmon from around the world."
Well, you could blow me down with a feather….Organically farmed????? - that's outrageous.
But, of course, fish farms, like the meat industry, are over populated. Fish are crammed into areas which become breeding grounds for viruses.
With further research I discovered that a recent Harvard study (May 21, 2012) shows that toxic mercury is accumulating in the Arctic - source: Harvard News
"Mercury is considered a persistent bioaccumulative toxin because it remains in the environment without breaking down; as it travels up the food chain, from plankton to fish, to marine mammals and humans, it becomes more concentrated and more dangerous."
And, guess what, we are to blame for most of the mercury. In itself mercury really isn't that bad at all. It happens naturally, but in low levels. However, about half of the mercury released into the atmosphere comes from human activities e.g. burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, with contributions from waste incineration, mining and other industrial activities.
And so we come to pollution:
 |
| This is just the plastic, I'm not going to show pictures of sea animals and fish which have been entangled, injured or died from our complete indifference! |
People think that the oceans have unlimited inertia, but nano-particles of plastic are getting into marine life and the food chain which is affecting fish fertility rates, this, in turn, affects food security and coastal populations. Pollution is having a huge impact on the oceans.
Fish ingest an estimated 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic per year in the Pacific Ocean, according to research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
It's time we stopped treating our oceans as trash bins and started taking responsibility.
Our beautiful, forgiving and generous oceans are simply going to die if we don't stop over fishing and polluting them….they have enough to deal with already with climate change, let's not add to their burden……………maybe the "killer fish" is a way of payback.
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