Something’s Fishy
Title ought to be that less and less is fishy but there’s really no clever way to say this…I don’t know if anyone has noticed that I am not posting fish or seafood recipes lately. And no, it’s not because all of a sudden I am a rabid carnivore and am jawing away on meat every night. It’s because I am so concerned about eating fish and seafood. We are over-fishing almost everything. And what we aren’t over-fishing might have unacceptable levels of toxins. Clothilde from Zucchini and Chocolate has a really good post about this. Even better are the comments. Particularly moving are the people from all over the world reminiscing about when you could reach your hand into the water and scoop out a particular fish or drop a line and be sure to catch another. The point being that they are simply gone.
I remember one summer that Maine was beset upon by divers harvesting sea urchins. Say what you will about them (I think they taste vile but I remember my parents savoring them when we lived in Provence, scooping out the raw innards from the spiny little fellas). Anyway, the Japanese prize them, as we all know. And this summer — it was years ago now; maybe 15? as I say, we were beset upon by divers hauling loads and loads of urchins out of the water. There was no control, no catch limits. And in that one summer, the population was decimated. I know it sounds alarmist. But it’s not an exaggeration. Used to be, you could stroll along the beaches and pick up beautiful, delicate urchin shells, bleached by the sun. The best ones were the tiniest. I used to like to collect them in varying sizes and then line them up like little Russian Nesting Dolls, the large down to the smallest I could find. After that summer, I might be lucky to find one. They used to cover the rocks. Now, when I see one it’s an event. And when the urchins went, so did the starfish. And probably there are other species I just don’t know enough to track. My point is that eating the fish, the way we fish right now is mostly irresponsible. I hate to say that because I could eat fish every day. But it’s true. I say mostly because there are sustainable raised or fished fish that are ok. Here is a competition for recipes around those fishes and the results. Note what one chef says, that the situation and what we know changes so you have to stay on top of it. Note what another says (this is lovely).. I paraphrase: If you have ever wondered whether or not we are connected to the sea, taste your tears.