The consumption of fish and seafood is a contentious issue at the best of times; even vegetarians do sometimes eat fish due to both the fact that fish seem further removed [than mammals] from our idea of sentient beings, and also because we know that Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are needed for human health. But I think there are some very real health and ethical reasons to completely stop eating fish and other seafood right now, particularly for people who do actually eat fish regularly.
Why? Well, because the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is a huge disaster that will have a long-term effect on the environment.
I won't pretend to know much about he technical details of the leak itself, but even if the well is successfully closed soon there is still the issue of the existing level of pollution and its impact on sea-living species.
Obviously the US government will not allow fishing in the water that is being directly affected by the oil spill, but that does not mean that we are 'off the hook' so to speak. What happens under the surface of the water is not obvious to the casual observer, but you can count on the pollution spreading further under water than on the surface.
There are two serious issues to consider when you decide whether you are comfortable eating seafood. Firstly what types of toxins could find their way onto your plate? Secondly, are you willing to accept the ecological disaster waiting to happen in the form of overfishing the remaining good fishing locations?
In terms of toxins, we have a number of different substances building up in fish that are living in oil affected waters. Firstly we have crude oil and secondly we have the dispersant being used, currently Corexit 9500. Crude oil contains both mercury and lead, which are obviously highly poisonous heavy metals. Crude oil also includes benzene, toluene and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), all of which cause cancer. While scientists claim that PAH does not accumulate in fish, they concede that it does accumulate in shellfish. The dispersant Corexit 9500 is a highly poisonous substance, roughly four times more poisonous than oil.
Heavy metals (such as mercury and lead) dispersed in water accumulates in the bodies of fish as the water is filtered through the fish's respiratory system. Additionally predatory fish tend to eat other fish, resulting in a greater heavy metal load. By the time a larger fish, prized by humans as a tasty morsel, is caught and sold as human food the heavy metals have been recycled and accumulated many times over.
Mercury results in degenerative illnesses (particularly targeting the brain) in humans and crosses the placenta in pregnant mothers. While mercury will cause degeneration of health in adults, it is significantly more concentrated when consumed by children or accumulated in a foetus. Mercury is suspected to be a leading cause of autism, Down's syndrome and other intellectual impairments.
Lead has been proven to be harmful even in the smallest doses tested on laboratory animals. No minimum quantity of lead has ever been accepted as safe. It affects the brain, the reproductive system, the nervous system and the kidneys, especially in children due to the higher level of concentration. Lead has been associated with low IQ, slow growth and hearing defects in children.
The chemical dispersant, Corexit 9500, used by BP to try to break up the oil from the surface of the water is known to be both more toxic and also less effective than other chemical disbursants, requiring a stronger application. I feel that we have a case of misaligned corporate ethics coming into this situation as Corexit 9500 was reputedly banned in Britain over a decade ago due to its highly toxic affects on both the environment and people. How 'British' Petroleum ended up with such a large supply then I do not know.
The use of Corexit 9500 in such quantities and at such oceanic depths is unknown in human history, and the exact contents of the mixture are a trade secret. Corexit 9500 increases in toxicity as it heats up, and oil in the water tends to increase the temperature of the water. It is expected that it will affect humans' respiratory systems, nervous systems, livers, kidneys and also cause blood disorders. Just as with mercury and lead, Corexit 9500 will have a greater impact on children due to their smaller size. At the time that this article was written (early June 2010) over 600,000 gallons of Corexit 9500 have been applied to the ocean's surface.
Clearly the fish and shellfish living in and around the Gulf of Mexico are going to be off the menu for some time. The government won't willingly allow the people to eat contaminated fish, so all should be fine right?
The answer is both yes and no. The govenment might not willingly allow fish to be caught from the worst polluted areas, but there will be a significant pressure to allow fishing in other areas nearby. The Gulf Coast is responsible for about half of the total US harvest in its high season. Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico is an estimated $2.4 billion industry, which is an invaluable addition to USA's GDP especially given the current recession. Additionally, if the demand for fish does not reduce, the supply of fish from other waters nearby will need to increase.
Do not also forget that some fish are highly migratory, particularly deep ocean fish, sometimes travelling up to 200 miles for feeding and reproduction. It is not possible to identify whether any individual fish has ever come into contact with the oil or the disbursant that is choking the Gulf of Mexico area.
Health issues aside, there is a secondary issue which will begin to affect other fishing areas. That is overfishing. Overfishing is when commercial fishing operations catch so many fish that the remaining population of fish are not able to increase their numbers enough to replace the number that have been caught. As it is, overfishing has already been a global issue for some time and according to overfishing.org, almost 80% of the world's fisheries are fully to over-exploited, depleted or in a state of collapse, and over 90% of the stocks of large predatory fish stocks are already gone. If we do not do something about it, we are approaching a situation where some fish may become endangered species. By increasing demand for fish from areas that normally have fewer fish numbers, we are simultaneously speeding up the rate at which the population of fish from that area declines.
Overfishing has a large effect on the ocean ecology as a whole. As fewer fish are caught in commercial fishing nets, ocean mammals and birds (such as dolphins, whales and pelicans) either have a hard time finding food, or are caught in nets themselves. Once caught in fishing nets, these animals and birds are usually killed and discarded.
So while those of us who are not yet affected by the disaster in the USA can sit back and watch everything unfold, it will be our fish and sea animals that will be increasingly removed from the oceans to make up for the shortfall in US fishing.
In my opinion, the only healthy and ethical thing to do about the seafood issue is to completely stop eating fish and their byproducts. We need to look into getting our EFAs from other sources such as flaxseeds, spirulina, chlorella and phytoplankton. Fortunately fish do not create their own EFAs, but instead break down the EFAs in the microalgae food that they consume. Humans are able to do the same, and so we can replace fish in the diet with supplemental sources of EFA. I have previously used fish oil for DHA supplementation, but I am going to try out some vegan alternatives.
Why? Well, because the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is a huge disaster that will have a long-term effect on the environment.
I won't pretend to know much about he technical details of the leak itself, but even if the well is successfully closed soon there is still the issue of the existing level of pollution and its impact on sea-living species.
Obviously the US government will not allow fishing in the water that is being directly affected by the oil spill, but that does not mean that we are 'off the hook' so to speak. What happens under the surface of the water is not obvious to the casual observer, but you can count on the pollution spreading further under water than on the surface.
There are two serious issues to consider when you decide whether you are comfortable eating seafood. Firstly what types of toxins could find their way onto your plate? Secondly, are you willing to accept the ecological disaster waiting to happen in the form of overfishing the remaining good fishing locations?
In terms of toxins, we have a number of different substances building up in fish that are living in oil affected waters. Firstly we have crude oil and secondly we have the dispersant being used, currently Corexit 9500. Crude oil contains both mercury and lead, which are obviously highly poisonous heavy metals. Crude oil also includes benzene, toluene and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), all of which cause cancer. While scientists claim that PAH does not accumulate in fish, they concede that it does accumulate in shellfish. The dispersant Corexit 9500 is a highly poisonous substance, roughly four times more poisonous than oil.
Heavy metals (such as mercury and lead) dispersed in water accumulates in the bodies of fish as the water is filtered through the fish's respiratory system. Additionally predatory fish tend to eat other fish, resulting in a greater heavy metal load. By the time a larger fish, prized by humans as a tasty morsel, is caught and sold as human food the heavy metals have been recycled and accumulated many times over.
Mercury results in degenerative illnesses (particularly targeting the brain) in humans and crosses the placenta in pregnant mothers. While mercury will cause degeneration of health in adults, it is significantly more concentrated when consumed by children or accumulated in a foetus. Mercury is suspected to be a leading cause of autism, Down's syndrome and other intellectual impairments.
Lead has been proven to be harmful even in the smallest doses tested on laboratory animals. No minimum quantity of lead has ever been accepted as safe. It affects the brain, the reproductive system, the nervous system and the kidneys, especially in children due to the higher level of concentration. Lead has been associated with low IQ, slow growth and hearing defects in children.
The chemical dispersant, Corexit 9500, used by BP to try to break up the oil from the surface of the water is known to be both more toxic and also less effective than other chemical disbursants, requiring a stronger application. I feel that we have a case of misaligned corporate ethics coming into this situation as Corexit 9500 was reputedly banned in Britain over a decade ago due to its highly toxic affects on both the environment and people. How 'British' Petroleum ended up with such a large supply then I do not know.
The use of Corexit 9500 in such quantities and at such oceanic depths is unknown in human history, and the exact contents of the mixture are a trade secret. Corexit 9500 increases in toxicity as it heats up, and oil in the water tends to increase the temperature of the water. It is expected that it will affect humans' respiratory systems, nervous systems, livers, kidneys and also cause blood disorders. Just as with mercury and lead, Corexit 9500 will have a greater impact on children due to their smaller size. At the time that this article was written (early June 2010) over 600,000 gallons of Corexit 9500 have been applied to the ocean's surface.
Clearly the fish and shellfish living in and around the Gulf of Mexico are going to be off the menu for some time. The government won't willingly allow the people to eat contaminated fish, so all should be fine right?
The answer is both yes and no. The govenment might not willingly allow fish to be caught from the worst polluted areas, but there will be a significant pressure to allow fishing in other areas nearby. The Gulf Coast is responsible for about half of the total US harvest in its high season. Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico is an estimated $2.4 billion industry, which is an invaluable addition to USA's GDP especially given the current recession. Additionally, if the demand for fish does not reduce, the supply of fish from other waters nearby will need to increase.
Do not also forget that some fish are highly migratory, particularly deep ocean fish, sometimes travelling up to 200 miles for feeding and reproduction. It is not possible to identify whether any individual fish has ever come into contact with the oil or the disbursant that is choking the Gulf of Mexico area.
Health issues aside, there is a secondary issue which will begin to affect other fishing areas. That is overfishing. Overfishing is when commercial fishing operations catch so many fish that the remaining population of fish are not able to increase their numbers enough to replace the number that have been caught. As it is, overfishing has already been a global issue for some time and according to overfishing.org, almost 80% of the world's fisheries are fully to over-exploited, depleted or in a state of collapse, and over 90% of the stocks of large predatory fish stocks are already gone. If we do not do something about it, we are approaching a situation where some fish may become endangered species. By increasing demand for fish from areas that normally have fewer fish numbers, we are simultaneously speeding up the rate at which the population of fish from that area declines.
Overfishing has a large effect on the ocean ecology as a whole. As fewer fish are caught in commercial fishing nets, ocean mammals and birds (such as dolphins, whales and pelicans) either have a hard time finding food, or are caught in nets themselves. Once caught in fishing nets, these animals and birds are usually killed and discarded.
So while those of us who are not yet affected by the disaster in the USA can sit back and watch everything unfold, it will be our fish and sea animals that will be increasingly removed from the oceans to make up for the shortfall in US fishing.
In my opinion, the only healthy and ethical thing to do about the seafood issue is to completely stop eating fish and their byproducts. We need to look into getting our EFAs from other sources such as flaxseeds, spirulina, chlorella and phytoplankton. Fortunately fish do not create their own EFAs, but instead break down the EFAs in the microalgae food that they consume. Humans are able to do the same, and so we can replace fish in the diet with supplemental sources of EFA. I have previously used fish oil for DHA supplementation, but I am going to try out some vegan alternatives.
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