The oceans and us 1 The oceans and us Since man first gazed across its watery depths, the sea has been held in special regard. It has evoked visions of splendour and horror. It has provided life-sustaining riches and taken the lives of many in return. The sea is and continues to be a mystery, a symbolic representation of the forces of good and evil; of things that are beautiful and those that are beastly; of that which is human and that which is inspirational. The History of Seafood Of all the things that the oceans provide, perhaps the most important resource for us is the rich array of seafood which we harvest from its depths and shorelines across the world. More importantly, for those of us involved in the seafood industry, from the fishers who catch the fish, to the restaurant or deli owner that sells it, this seafood represents more than just a source of food; it is part of our culture, our heritage and our livelihood. Seafood may mean different things to different people. We may not know it but we all depend on the oceans To some, it is the height of luxury; an oyster still fresh in one way or another. from the sea shared over a glass of champagne. To others, it may be the daily meal, the fish brought home /ƚ ĐŽŶƚƌŽůƐ ŽƵƌ ĐůŝŵĂƚĞ͖ ǁŝƚŚŽƵƚ ƚŚĞ ŽĐĞĂŶ͛Ɛ after a long time at sea or some mussels gathered at low moderating effects on the weather, our days would be tide along the rocky shore. Regardless of what seafood unbearably hot and our nights freezing cold. The may mean to us as individuals, it is important not to ocean also naturally recycles our water and our air, underestimate the value of seafood in our lives. constantly cleaning it for us to use over and again 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It produces more Today, almost one in every six people in the world relies oxygen than the rainforests and absorbs nearly half of on fish as their primary source of protein, and the carbon that we put into the atmosphere. approximately 200 million people around the world rely on fish for all or part of their income. The ocean touches everyone and everything and is essential to life and human survival on this planet. As Our relationship with seafood stretches right back to the humans, we are inextricably linked to the oceans, 70 beginnings of the human race. In fact, it has been percent of our body is made up of water, the same suggested that unique substances present in fish percentage that covers the Earth's surface, even the consumed in the early human diet led to some of the blood that runs in our veins has the same salt earliest development and evolution of the modern concentration as seawater, reminding us of our human brain. And, while a lot may have changed since earliest beginnings ŝŶƚŚĞŽĐĞĂŶ͛ƐǁĂƚĞƌƐ͘ our early ancestors dined on their first seafood dish, in many ways, things are still very much the same. Understanding this connection and the value of the ocean in our own lives is crucial, not just for our own ͞,ŽǁŝŶĂƉƉƌŽƉƌŝĂƚĞƚŽĐĂůůƚŚŝƐ wellbeing but to ensure that future generations will not have to suffer the consequences of poor decisions planet Earth when it is quite made by us today... clearly Ocean͟ -Arthur C. Clarke 1 1 An Ancient Trade We knew how to fish long before we knew how to farm. Over 100 000 years before the first seed was sown, Khoi Strandlopers ǁĞƌĞǁĂŶĚĞƌŝŶŐ^ŽƵƚŚĨƌŝĐĂ͛Ɛ shorelines, harvesting mussels, fish and oysters and any other gifts that the oceans chose to grant our early ancestors. We have come a long way since those early days, and much has changed; we now use very adǀĂŶĐĞĚ ŵĞƚŚŽĚƐ ƚŽ ŚĂƌǀĞƐƚ ƚŚĞ ŽĐĞĂŶ͛Ɛ ƌŝĐŚĞƐ ĂŶĚ markets for seafood have spread across the world. However, despite these changes, in many ways the seafood industry remains the same... Unlike almost all the other types of food that we may find in restaurants and supermarkets today, most of the seafood we eat still comes from the wild. For many people, this is one of the major attractions of eating seafood; it connects us to those long-forgotten days when humans still had to hunt for their food. For these people, wild caught seafood still evokes romantic images of weathered fishermen practicing their ancient art on a wild ocean in order to bring us fresh fish still smelling of the ocean. ^ŽƵƚŚĨƌŝĐĂ͛ƐKĐĞĂŶƐ On the Southern tip of Africa we are surrounded by the sea, both the Indian and the Atlantic oceans wash More than ever, seafood is a against our 3000km shoreline. As a result, our oceans are incredibly rich with over 11 000 different species global commodity... ƚŚĂƚŚĂǀĞďĞĞŶĚĞƐĐƌŝďĞĚŝŶ^ŽƵƚŚĨƌŝĐĂŶǁĂƚĞƌƐ;ƚŚĂƚ͛Ɛ However, today, consumers are attracted to more than 1/20th or over 5% of all marine species globally) and just the romance of seafood. More and more people almost one in every five of them are endemic, which are considering seafood as a healthy and alternative means that they are found nowhere else in the world. natural protein source. At a time when many consumers regard products from conventional commercial land-based farms with increasing suspicion, seafood is growing in popularity. Spurred on by the globalisation of markets, seafood has become the most traded food commodity in the world. Made even more popular by the trend setters in the culinary world, seafood has exploded onto restaurant menus and retail store shelves everywhere. ͞KŶĂǀĞƌĂŐĞĂƌŽƵŶĚƚŚĞǁŽƌůĚ͕ǁĞ are now eating double the amount of fish today compared to just fifty LJĞĂƌƐĂŐŽ͘͟ 2 1 Wild caught fisheries now produce almost 100 million tonnes of fish every year (source: FAO 2006) But the times they are a changing... Sadly, we may never know the oceans in the same way that our ancestors did. Regardless of where you come from in the world, anyone involved in the seafood industry will remember a time when the fish being pulled from the ocean were bigger and more plentiful. Ɛ ƚŚĞ ǁŽƌůĚ͛Ɛ ŚƵŵĂŶ ƉŽƉƵůĂƚŝŽŶ ŚĂƐ ŐƌŽǁŶ͕ ƐŽ ŚĂǀĞ our demands on the ŽĐĞĂŶ͛ƐƌĞƐŽƵƌĐĞƐ. Whether we like it or not, we can no longer afford to ignore the impact that we are having on our marine ecosystems. Now, more than ever, if we want to ensure the future of the seafood industry and with it, our own livelihoods, we need to start thinking about what sustainability really means to us and our businesses. 3 1 NOTES: ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Something fish is going on 2 Something fishy is going on... zŽƵĚŽŶ͛ƚŚĂǀĞƚŽ be a fisher to know that something is happening to our fish stocks. It seems clear that all over the world, fish stocks are disappearing, everywhere we look there are signs that the oceans are no longer able to keep up with the demands that human beings are putting on them. Catches of wild ŵĂƌŝŶĞ ĨŝƐŚ ƉĞĂŬĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ϭϵϴϬ͛Ɛ͘ Alarmingly, despite major advances in fishing technology since then, the catches of wild marine fish have not increased. Figures for global fish catches can often be misleading as they include farmed fish (produced by aquaculture). They also do not show the changes in the types of fish that are now being caught. If they did we would see a dramatic decrease in popular seafood species such as bluefin tuna and swordfish and an increase in smaller, less-desirable fish, many of which are not even eaten by humans but are used in agricultural feed products. Over the last few decades, many of us involved in the seafood industry have been noticing the telltale signs of ͞/Ĩ ĐŽŵŵĞƌĐŝĂů ĨŝƐŚŝŶŐ ŝƐ ŶŽƚ ŚĞĂǀŝůLJ this disappearance of fish in the seafood market as: regulated, there will be little left to x Fish are getting smaller harvest in the seas outside the lowest x Some fish are becoming harder to find, some are no longer available at all levels of the food web. So you don't need x There are fewer seafood options to choose from to worry about these problems as long x All fish species are becoming more expensive as your children like plankton stew"