In a column posted in The Huffington Post, Julie Packard, daughter of David and Lucile Packard, founders of the Packard Foundation, says the health of the world's seafood resources is improving.
This is simply not accurate. Julie Packard and the Monterey Bay Aquarium have partnered with the industry they seek to hold to the fire. I am sure they feel this is the best way to effectuate change, however this approach is based on poor science that is used to justify the continuation of wild fisheries as an industry.
The future of seafood is to preserve wild resources at all cost so that we maintain the ocean ecosystems for future generations and as the sole protein source for so many communities in developing nations.
The exploitation of the seas by pollution and abuse of marine populations must cease. The validation of this continued exploitation by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and other NGOs, albeit in a milder form, does not resolve the risk we have placed our planet.
In sum, I have accepted the following to be true:
1.Wild seafood is not sustainable and never will be until we manage ocean resources in a holistic manner;
2. Eating seafood with high mercury and PCBs levels makes no sense from a public health point;
3.We need to manage the oceans with no fishing zones and other techniques that preserve our ocean resources;
4. Ocean resources must first be allocated to communities that have no other sources of protein;
5.We need to develop well managed aquaculture that reduces overall global pollutants when evaluated in the context of global agricultur e/aquacult ure.
The ocean is currently the last frontier of global abuse by pollution and environmental exploitation. We need to abandon the romantic view of the fisherman just as we abandoned the romantic view of the frontiersman that wiped out the buffalo. My company only supports artisanal producers and harvesters- and so should us all.
