New York Times professional food alarmist Mark Bittman
Time to Boycott Mark Bittman?
On Radio Australia, the ISSF Scientific Advisory Committee Chair states that
Greenpeace is exaggerating its claims about by-catch, which refers to non-target animals caught during fishing ("
purse seine" refers to a method of fishing that scoops up fish with a purse-shaped net):
Host: And another of the comments made by [Greenpeace's] Casson Trenor [is] that they have evidence that turtles are killed by purse seiners that are caught up by accident in their fishing processes and also photos finning sharks. You disagree with that?
ISSF: Well, the catch of turtles in purse seine fisheries is very minor. It's in the dozens a year and most of them are released alive. The mortality of those turtles is very, very small and it's almost insignificant compared to the mortality of turtles from other fishing activities, such as long lining or from other human activities, such as building hotels near nesting beaches and so on.
Greenpeace would prefer it if fishermen caught tuna using pole-and-line methods. But as the tuna industry notes,
only 2% of the canned tuna consumed is currently caught this way. It's less efficient than using methods like purse seine, which begs the question: Wouldn't fishermen have to dispatch
more boats to catch the same amount of tuna going by this supposedly more "sustainable" method, resulting in more greenhouse gas emissions? Probably—but that handy problem would give Greenpeace something else to complain about, another way to try to put the fishing industry out of business, and of course, something to fundraise on.
(And speaking of sustainability, Bittman notes that most canned tuna is skipjack—which is
not a threatened species.)
Canned tuna is a source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids that's easily affordable for lower-income Americans. Omega-3s are linked not only to
better heart health, but also
better brain development in children. Studies already indicate that some
4.4 million lower-income households stopped purchasing canned tuna between 2000 and 2006, no doubt mostly due to the mercury-in-fish scare campaigns from environmental groups that, unsurprisingly,
failed on scientific merit. A full-on boycott of this cheap source of omega-3s might serve Bittman's self-righteousness, but it wouldn't help the average family.
Maybe next time Bittman shouldn't rely so much on a "
ratbag rabble of intellectual cowards intent on peddling an agenda." Or better yet, maybe he can go back to simply serving up new recipes.
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