From the radioThis week's post springs from a RNZ national interview I heard, in which Sharon Brettkelley speaks with Dr. Richard O'Driscoll, chief fisheries scientist with New Zealand's NIWA¹, about the provocative Netflix film Seaspiracy. I'd not heard of Seaspiracy before listening to the O'Driscoll interview, consequently, a visit to Netflix was my next go-place Seaspiracy
Seaspiracy - more
After sitting through this intense programme I was left feeling dead and facing claims such as:
Another viewNext I re-listened to Trawling for the truth about fishing, the name RNZ National had given to their O'Driscoll interview. Presumably RNZ National, hearing a lot of public shouts and mutterings over Seaspiracy, went to the top fisheries scientist in the land, on the grounds that New Zealand, as a small country totally surrounded by sea, should be pretty well grounded in fisheries research, protection and management. Science says
O'Driscoll has issues with the film on matters such as by-catch. By-catch he says is not necessarily discarded. If a boat is targeting snapper and catches other useable species, they are brought ashore and marketed. He says that, world wide, only 10% of the by-catch is estimated to be discarded. Part of the solution
Fish stocks of many species (at least all those commonly commercially fished) are continually counted, researched and monitored. Quotas are set for sustainability and so informed management is vital. We need people with knowledge based opinionsI hope all of us who read this post watch Seaspiracy (if we can find a device running Netflix) and listen to Richard O'Driscoll. Go to O'Driscoll by clicking here. We will learn from each. Seaspiracy is horrifyingly effective in alerting us to bad practice based on greed. After viewing it and hearing the radio interview, there will be much to discuss with our friends. Do we think, to take something very specific, cameras should be mounted on all fishing boats as deterrents against illegal, wasteful or cruel practices? There is, foot of the page, a link to a Greenpeace petition urging the New Zealand government to legislate for that. 'Yes' or 'No'? Beyond a matter as specific as that, many important government fishery decisions will arise as life struggles on. That will be the case in many countries. To influence collective voices, which will affect those decisions, we need people with knowledge based opinions. Hence, I hope we will all take a day by day interest in the matters discussed in this post. About eatingAnd about eating? Eat fish to kill the sea or to eat fish to ensure the sea stays alive? Abandon or protect? But before we even get as far as fish, there is a decision to be made as to whether or not to eat animals at all. That's personal. I made mine a long time ago. In line with it, last night, after spending hours this week thinking about the ocean and what lives in it, I had fish and chips for dinner. □ John McInnes Friday 21 May 2021 Reference: please click on the red text Greenpeace petition to NZ government to mount cameras on all commercial fishing boats Footnote: ¹National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research ##########
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