Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Think Green Thursday


Each week, Michelle is coordinating things for us so that we can share our thoughts on our beautiful planet, and share our ideas to help keep it green.

In order to keep things "green" we also have to consider how to keep our oceans clean and healthy, so "blue" is also very important. Pollution of our waters has become a serious problem.

I have spoken before about California's Monterey Bay Aquarium, and its wonderful blog, Sea Notes. A post this week concerns overfishing. This post is on a much cheerier note than some in the past. With the great effort put into this subject recently, it seems we are starting on a path of "regrowth, regeneration, and recovery"! We have a long way to go, particularly in light of the fact that many countries still refuse to even discuss the matter. But in many areas of the world, it does look promising. Where preventive measures are in place, and Marine Protected Areas (MPA's) exist, stocks of marine animals are rebuilding. If we continue in this way, modifying commercial fishing gear, and public attention to opting for sustainable choices in seafood, there is real hope.

For the Fish Lovers Out There -

In choosing our seafood, we have a great deal of help in the form of Seafood Watch Pocket Guides. they can be found on Face Book and Twitter. They are also available to download on line from Monterey Bay Aquarium. Go to the Aquarium site, and you will find a guide for your region of the country: Hawaii, West Coast, Southwest, Southeast, Northeast, and Central U.S.. There is also a National Guide, as well as a Sushi Guide. Tuck one into your pocket or pocketbook for shopping or for eating in a restaurant.

These guides list your Best Choices, Good Alternatives, and What to Avoid.



We can bring our oceans and their inhabitants back to health!




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Please do yourself a favor and read Michelle's Think Green Thursday post this week. It's an important one. She has actually done three posts - on tea, on chocolate, and on coffee (last week). The one on chocolate is a real eye opener!

8 comments:

Think Green said...

A fellow birder posted about the aquarium and all that they were involved with so I checked out the web site. I am not a fish eater, but I passed the info along to my daughter who loves fish and she found it really helpful so this is a great post. At least there are a few of us interested in posting about green issues....I too found the info on chocolate really surprising..Michelle

Dawn Fine said...

Great information..thanks for the link..I printed out some of these cards before so I know what type of fish I should and should not be eating.
Thanks for sharing this good info!

Unknown said...

Aren't you there yet!!! (Just a joke on your blog title ... which I really like by the way!)

Sara Chapman in Seattle said...

Fascinating post. I agree that choices make a difference. Thanks for posting.

dianasfaria.com said...

I should be reading this since I eat so much fish. Thank you Bobbie!

Daryl said...

As always good reminders and excellent how-to

Rambling Woods said...

Thank you for adding the fair trade photos..I need to do that. I had no idea about some of this stuff...

Unknown said...

Thanks for the resource. I need to be more careful about this. I love seafood. I just read in the Martha Stewart magazine of all places, about pole-caught vs. net-caught tuna. I love tuna and I'm willing to pay more for the pole-caught stuff. Using a pole instead of a net doesn't result in the catching of other marine life and it's supposedly less tainted with mercury because it's caught "young". There is probably still the danger of over-fishing. What a mess we make with our indulgence and demands!

Thanks for a great post, Bobbie. I also read with interest Michelle's post on the fair trade tea and chocolate.