Dying Oceans

[AfterDark]

This is, IMHO, a simplistic, romantic notion. The reality is that the Earth will become essentially uninhabitable before the population is pared down enough. Must we wait for "starvation, sickness, and natural disasters" before we take meaningful action?

Wait?!?! It happens regularly. Earthquakes, floods, super storms, famine these are part of any newcast on any given day. How about gobal warming? That'll pare down the population yet we are hell bent on fixing it even though we can't. You go 1st off yourself to save the world and we'll follow............ promise.

 

[Hank49]

Almost if not all commercially farmed fish/seafood, land animals and land plants are not as good for you as their diet and fertilizer is pretty much the same thing everyday and typically not what it would normally feed on if it were left in the wild.

I adjusted your statement a bit. Ok, so what then? We go back to hunting and fishing, picking berries for all our food?
For all the aquaculture haters, what is the difference in land farming? We destroy forest or prairie to make way for soy beans and wheat. As mentioned, there ARE too many people. But we better get our **** together and figure out how we're going to feed our great great great grandchildren. It can be done. It's all cost driven at this point.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I am a contributor in cash and kind to a variety of ocean preservation/conservation groups, but I fear that there is too much politicizing of the issues and not enough science. Clearly pollution has impacted our oceans and reefs, and thoughtless discarding of trash and other human waste , to say nothing of poor agricultural practices, has injured our underwater world. Let us all be responsible consumers of the reef and sea. Fix problems, not blame, and know that the planet is much stronger than humans. It will endure, it will repair itself, both the wet part and the dry part and the gas part, as it has since creation. But I want to be part of the solution, not the problem, and there is a lot we each can do. No chemical sunscreen; stay off the reef; pick up trash when spotted; don harass the wildlife; share information with others about the fragile ecosystem that is the underwater world, etc.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Wookie]

I am a contributor in cash and kind to a variety of ocean preservation/conservation groups, but I fear that there is too much politicizing of the issues and not enough science. Clearly pollution has impacted our oceans and reefs, and thoughtless discarding of trash and other human waste , to say nothing of poor agricultural practices, has injured our underwater world. Let us all be responsible consumers of the reef and sea. Fix problems, not blame, and know that the planet is much stronger than humans. It will endure, it will repair itself, both the wet part and the dry part and the gas part, as it has since creation. But I want to be part of the solution, not the problem, and there is a lot we each can do. No chemical sunscreen; stay off the reef; pick up trash when spotted; don harass the wildlife; share information with others about the fragile ecosystem that is the underwater world, etc.
DivemasterDennis

It's great that you contribute, but the last part of your post is the most important thing you said. If everyone did their part by not pooping on the reef, not using turtle killer plastic bags, and being cool with where your sugar comes from, not throwing fishing gear in the oceans, not putting your oil in the drain, not insisting that your golf courses, lawns, and parks are emerald green in the heat of the summer, the water quality would improve immeasurably. Sunscreen? Maybe, but I'm not convinced. Cash donations? If used for education and awareness. If used for stuffing the pockets of the executive director, maybe not so much.

 

[cb5150]

I am a contributor in cash and kind to a variety of ocean preservation/conservation groups, but I fear that there is too much politicizing of the issues and not enough science. Clearly pollution has impacted our oceans and reefs, and thoughtless discarding of trash and other human waste , to say nothing of poor agricultural practices, has injured our underwater world. Let us all be responsible consumers of the reef and sea. Fix problems, not blame, and know that the planet is much stronger than humans. It will endure, it will repair itself, both the wet part and the dry part and the gas part, as it has since creation. But I want to be part of the solution, not the problem, and there is a lot we each can do. No chemical sunscreen; stay off the reef; pick up trash when spotted; don harass the wildlife; share information with others about the fragile ecosystem that is the underwater world, etc.
DivemasterDennis

I was almost with you until you started the nonsense about sunscreen.

 

[emoreira]

There is good news. If we leave it alone, it comes back quickly. Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines had been over fished and dynamited for years. The World Heritage moved in, put up some funding to have armed guards there that check on all boats in the area and lo and behold, the reef and fish came back in a short while.

I hope and believe that in the not so distant future, we will be growing fish and seafood in intensive culture systems cheaper than people can go out and catch them in the wild. It's already happened with shrimp. The trawlers in the Gulf of Mexico only survive because of lobbying and government subsidies. Farmers can produce shrimp for a lower cost then the trawlers.

Hunting on land is only for sportsman now. The same SHOULD happen in the sea. (and being a spearfisherman, I LIVE for that day )

Maybe I'm wrong, but I hate these doomsday sayers. There is always hope.

One of the big problems is ocean acidification, mostly produced because of the increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Ocean acidification can produce long term modifications in the ocean ecosystem that could barely be absorbed by the ocean itself, not allowing to return to the current equilibrium.

 

[lionfish-eater]

I adjusted your statement a bit. Ok, so what then? We go back to hunting and fishing, picking berries for all our food?
For all the aquaculture haters, what is the difference in land farming? We destroy forest or prairie to make way for soy beans and wheat. As mentioned, there ARE too many people. But we better get our **** together and figure out how we're going to feed our great great great grandchildren. It can be done. It's all EXCESSIVE PROFIT driven at this point.

FTFY

So your logic is that since we have no problem destroying our land resources for food, mineral and timber, it should be ok to do the same to our oceans? I think that the tank based aquaculture systems should be expanded on land. I like your example of hunting changing to farming which changed to modern corporate agribusiness. The reason we moved from hunting to farming is because we killed everything into extinction. Poor herd management and harvesting practices wiped out the buffalo and bison, and over fishing has collapsed many fisheries, both on a micro and macro scale. We will move to large scale ocean farming right after we have destroyed all of the natural fisheries. The oceans are the last frontier open for exploitation, farming is probably the least harmful, when compared to oil/gas, garbage dumping, chemical disposal, underwater mining, nuclear power plant flushing, etc. I know I am just beating my head against a wall. I can reduce my environmental impact and bring my own grocery bag, but it is nothing compared to the amount of trash NYC dumps into the ocean every day 24/7. Japan is quietly flushing a nuke plant into the ocean. The damaged fuel rods have not been contained and could cause a meltdown that would spread throughout the northern hemisphere. The list goes on and on, our ability to mechanize and conquer seems unlimited.

Here is a photo album of a chinese invasion fleet that does smash and grabs on unprotected fisheries. They are in and out very quickly, trawl nets, lots of damage and bycatch.
Fleet of Chinese fishing vessels - Imgur

 

[Hank49]

FTFY

So your logic is that since we have no problem destroying our land resources for food, mineral and timber, it should be ok to do the same to our oceans? I think that the tank based aquaculture systems should be expanded on land. I like your example of hunting changing to farming which changed to modern corporate agribusiness. The reason we moved from hunting to farming is because we killed everything into extinction. Poor herd management and harvesting practices wiped out the buffalo and bison, and over fishing has collapsed many fisheries, both on a micro and macro scale. We will move to large scale ocean farming right after we have destroyed all of the natural fisheries. The oceans are the last frontier open for exploitation, farming is probably the least harmful, when compared to oil/gas, garbage dumping, chemical disposal, underwater mining, nuclear power plant flushing, etc. I know I am just beating my head against a wall. I can reduce my environmental impact and bring my own grocery bag, but it is nothing compared to the amount of trash NYC dumps into the ocean every day 24/7. Japan is quietly flushing a nuke plant into the ocean. The damaged fuel rods have not been contained and could cause a meltdown that would spread throughout the northern hemisphere. The list goes on and on, our ability to mechanize and conquer seems unlimited.

Here is a photo album of a chinese invasion fleet that does smash and grabs on unprotected fisheries. They are in and out very quickly, trawl nets, lots of damage and bycatch.
Fleet of Chinese fishing vessels - Imgur

I was responding to your statement that seemed to say only aquacultured products are not as nutritious as wild.
No, I am not in favor of destroying any environment but wild buffalo herds would not match the US beef demand today.
And I agree that tank, or pond based aquaculture is best. Ocean rearing is somewhat cheaper to build....until a hurricane hits, which happened to a cage cobia farm here in Belize.
Tank, or pond based aquaculture gives us much better control over flow rates, water management etc. An example of a future farm is something like this.
Water is pumped up to tilapia ponds. Tilapia create a very beneficial bacteria and algae bloom that shrimp really thrive in (proven technology) so the tilapia water flows to the shrimp. The shrimp water then goes to a settling pond that oysters live in. Oysters do well in shrimp ponds due to the algae profile. The oyster water waste runs through a benthic algae bed which removes remaining nitrates or ammonia before returning to the sea. This algae can be dried and processed and fed back to the tilapia.
As I mentioned, it's all cost driven. We are bending the industry towards this type of farm. Environmentally friendly and a high yield of protein per acre.

By the way, what is FTFY?

 

[lionfish-eater]

FTFY: fixed that for you, internet slang when you modify someone else's post

 

[BRT]

This is, IMHO, a simplistic, romantic notion. The reality is that the Earth will become essentially uninhabitable before the population is pared down enough. Must we wait for "starvation, sickness, and natural disasters" before we take meaningful action?

Who do you want to kill and how do you want to decide who can have children?