Cultural Sustainability

Over three years ago I developed the notion of "Cultural Sustainability."  This notion derived from my belief that food and resources are not mere commodities, but cultural icons and artifacts.  This concept guides our company in supporting sustainable aquaculture and agriculture, as well as artisanal wild capture fisheries.

The evidence is undisputed that wild fisheries world wide are either at capacity or in a state of collapse.  To preserve our marine resources we must vastly reduce our consumption of wild seafood.  In so doing, who should continue to have access to the limited wild capture seafood that is sustainable?  I believe these wild fish must be allocated to local populations that depend on wild capture fisheries for their survival, or to preserve cultural and community identity. Any other allocation of these at risk resources is ethically suspect. We must recognize and support the needs of the developing world while preserving local culture worldwide.  Of course, such cultural support is not unconditional.  For example, we should not support cultural traditions that do not respect the resource or other cultures.

Cultural Sustainability also accepts man as part of the ecological equation.  We need to manage the seas as we manage terrestrial resources.  Thus, as we have land use laws, we must have sea use laws.  We need national parks and game preserves under under the sea as much, if not more so, than on land. We also need farms and industry at sea.  These uses must be well managed and utilize best practices. 

Best practices at sea are those that are analogous to such terrestrial practices as organic or biodynamic or grass fed for livestock. We must hold all food chain producers to the same high environmental and social standards whether on land or at sea.  The evidence is that we should bias our food production to the sea though.  Aquaculture is more efficient  and has less environmental impact than land based agriculture.  This is because fish are more efficient feed converters and resultingly produce less waste.  Combine this fact with the health benefits of seafood and aquaculture shows real promise in providing the most sustainable sources of protein.

Cultural Sustainability reflects a world view that encourages cultural and ecological diversity and preserves marine resources for future generations.  I appreciate your support in bringing this message to market.