Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat? • Hacker News Board

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#41

Post by pasbesoin » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 4:28 PM UTC

jellicle wrote: post #12

This is a silly list. Not because fish aren't important, but because there's no way to take action on this list. Studies have shown that a huge amount of fish is mislabelled. Yes, pick up a piece of xxxx from a seafood market and the odds are that it's not xxxx. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/science/earth/27fish.html Consumers have no effective way to verify what they're eating. This is a situation where there is…

I'd say that the recent prominence of such lists, and articles, means that at least the general population is becoming somewhat aware of the issue. Without that, nothing much is likely to happen.

Perhaps it's difficult to assure you're being given what you're told, but at least people are starting to ask.

And when preservation such as fishing regulations are proposed, this will make sense to more people. Maybe all the more so when they realize that their individual decisions don't matter, aren't sufficient, because they're bing lied to.

I hope. The alternative is pretty dismal.

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#42

Post by Zarkonnen » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:03 PM UTC

Since mercury levels are obviously something people are very concerned about, I will look into adding them to the information. Does anyone have good sources for mercury levels of different kinds of fish?

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#43

Post by trotsky » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:10 PM UTC

Why are various farmed fish listed as "not okay to eat"? Certainly farmed fish can't be under pressure like wild fish. Is it because of the environmental practices of the farms? I see us farmed raised catfish is listed ok, but apparently asian farmed catfish isn't?

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#44

Post by jkjeldgaard » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:13 PM UTC

trotsky wrote: post #43

Why are various farmed fish listed as "not okay to eat"? Certainly farmed fish can't be under pressure like wild fish. Is it because of the environmental practices of the farms? I see us farmed raised catfish is listed ok, but apparently asian farmed catfish isn't?

Mainly due to environmental strain and unethical practices. More info if you click the said fish.

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#45

Post by patja » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:22 PM UTC

Farmed salmon as a good choice? Think you better check that one out, unless it is in an inland pond (rare), farmed salmon is a pretty bad choice. Also having only a single listing for "cod" over-simplifies things. Many diverse fish are marketed as cod, and some of them are quite sustainable. Sablefish aka Black Cod from Alaska is a delicious buttery treat and quite sustainable.

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#46

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:24 PM UTC

jkjeldgaard wrote: post #44

trotsky wrote: post #43

Why are various farmed fish listed as "not okay to eat"? Certainly farmed fish can't be under pressure like wild fish. Is it because of the environmental practices of the farms? I see us farmed raised catfish is listed ok, but apparently asian farmed catfish isn't?

Mainly due to environmental strain and unethical practices. More info if you click the said fish.

[deleted]

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#47

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:28 PM UTC

trotsky wrote: post #43

Why are various farmed fish listed as "not okay to eat"? Certainly farmed fish can't be under pressure like wild fish. Is it because of the environmental practices of the farms? I see us farmed raised catfish is listed ok, but apparently asian farmed catfish isn't?

[deleted]

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#48

Post by sliverstorm » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:31 PM UTC

trotsky wrote: post #43

Why are various farmed fish listed as "not okay to eat"? Certainly farmed fish can't be under pressure like wild fish. Is it because of the environmental practices of the farms? I see us farmed raised catfish is listed ok, but apparently asian farmed catfish isn't?

Environmental impact of the farms, and raising practices. You can grow catfish in awful waters and as they are bottom-feeders, basically feed them trash. Allegedly many Chinese catfish farms do just that.

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#49

Post by sliverstorm » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:35 PM UTC

jeremymims wrote: post #4

reedlaw wrote: post #3

"Which are okay to eat?" implies how much mercury is present, but it seems this question is from an environmental perspective.

The environmental perspective is the most important. The truth is the oceans are dying and overfishing has created colossal dead zones. The best option that should be on this list is to not eat any fish at all.

Even if the entire United States ceased eating fish, the problem would continue and get worse. Other countries would step in and eat the fish we would have been eating.

In other words, the way to solve the problem is not by not eating fish (though that is perfectly fine at an individual level) but to establish sustainability around the globe.

Re: Which Fish: With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?

#50

Post by trotsky » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:37 PM UTC

kahawe wrote: post #25

Can't eat beef because of mad cow and the heavy medication used in breeding; same goes for pigs and chicken and all other mass-produced meat. On top of that you have the question of animal cruelty and the questionable necessity of killing animals to eat them attached to it. Plus it is generally not that healthy to eat it all the time and you shouldn't eat meat more than once or twice a week or so. Can't eat fish for…

And vegetables and fruits? Well, practically all of the mass produced ones never EVER saw any soil or real sunlight but artificial gel to grow on

Wait, what? You are going off the deep end here. I assure you that the exact opposite is true - practically all mass produced produce touches soil and uses real sunlight. The economics don't support your premise at all. Have you never been to rural areas? I assure you they are not lined with industrial warehouses and artificial lighting systems.

And if you go organic and local farmers only? Apart from few choices, you have even less inspections and regulations to protect your safety because you don't know what they are selling, what it grew on and how clean and safe to eat it is. And some of it just taste absolutely horrible.

At some level you need to take on a certain amount of responsibility. My locally grown produce mostly comes from people I know. They don't need a ton of regulations and inspections to keep me safe - social contracts do. We've been doing it this way for thousands of years. The regulations and inspections mostly became needed when you got so far removed from your food source. Also life isn't 100.00% safe, c'est la vie.