Food, we all need it, but...

As divers we are possibly more aware of the marine environment, the fish, the invertebrates, the marine mammals than the average "man in the street" but the overall picture of this adapted world of ours can still be a rather tangled mass of facts and opinions. We have heard of shark-finning to provide a lucrative Asian market for shark fin soup, we know about the over-fishing of cod in our North Sea, we object to killing whales for whale meat.

In Asia alone over a billion people depend on fish and seafood as their major source of animal protein while over 100 million people in developing countries are dependent on fisheries for their livelihood. Fish production for human consumption was estimated in 1996 to have reached 91 million tonnes worldwide and with the projected increase in world population it will reach 120 million tonnes a year by 2010. How sustainable is this?

Some divers simply will not eat fish due to concerns about over-fishing, some will object to other divers bringing a crab, a lobster, or a scallop back from a dive. But many divers do enjoy one form of seafood or another. What is sensibly sustainable, and what is not? We see these animals in their natural environment and possibly have a better perspective for understanding and explaining this world and its inhabitants to others - but what is the wider perspective?

Over the past few years, fish and marine biologists along with conservation organisations have started spelling out lists of the edible marine animals in most danger, those that are under some danger, and some which are stable at the moment. They are not just saying "become a vegetarian" or "don't eat fish", but are giving useful advice on making choices of what to eat and what not to eat from a sustainablity point of view. Some of them even give some tasty-sounding recipes! (see: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/seafood/bestrecipes.cfm).

As a diver, a privileged representative of the alien world we explore, it is partly up to you to put together a coherent story of this world and what may sensibly be taken and eaten from it, and what may not.

To learn more about What Is and What Is Not environmentally sound marine food the Marine Conservation Society, (http://www.mcsuk.org/), has a "Good Fish Guide". On their web site they offer a list of 25 species which can be eaten with a clear conscience and 20 to avoid, along with the opportunity to order their 196 page full colour "MCS good fish guide".

The National Audubon Society has its "Living Oceans" marine conservation program and a "Seafood Lovers Guide" at www.audubon.org/campaign/lo/seafood/index.html with sections having downlowdable regional wallet cards with species OK or not OK to put on your plate, a database with colour plates and details about many of the species are both endangered and sustainable, plus other seafood resources.

The California Monterey Bay Aquarium has an excellent web site at www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_regional.asp with Best, Caution and To Avoid species each with colour plates, general information and links to further detailed information but only for the American West Coast. Further pages with information on many other aspects of food from the sea also start here.

Environmental Defense has a seafood selector site at www.environmentaldefense.org/seafood/fishhome.cfm with information both on sustainable fishing, fish-farming, recipes and a pdf pocket seafood guide.

So, does it help to know what is sustainable and for consumers to boycott endangered species? It's a good debating topic; swordfish were reaching seriously low levels on the eastern seaboard of the USA, a "Give Swordfish a Break" campaign targeted consumers to boycott the fish and not only forced fisherman out of business, but also drove others to develop overseas markets. The campaign and the resultant job losses forced through conservation measures which have ultimately restored much of the population. The debate which arose centres on what caused what? Some say the conservation measures might not have been enforced without the consumer boycott, while others contend the boycott forced new markets to be opened and thus hindered the conservation.

So, having checked out these web sites and books, maybe your eating habits will change. At least as a diver YOU can add another line when you chat with friends. You have probably bored them to near death about your diving kit and its configuration. Change your topic to environmental issues and the seafood that can be sustainably eaten and you have years more of subjects to discuss. And it might just make for dives with more fish about and a sea bottom which hasn't been decimated by bottom trawling or dredging.

Charles Stirling