"I like fishes 'cuz they're so delicious!" Yesterday while at dinner I found myself humming the theme song of the Peppersidge Farm Goldfish commercial over my bowl of beans and veggies. I'm not terribly perturbed by this pervasive advertising - they're harmless jingles. I am more disturbed by the actual message of the jingle.
For me, singing about savoring fish flesh is a highly distressing phenomenon, particularly in light of the recent menu selections at both Carmichael and Dewick dining halls. Our ever creative chefs have thought wise to experiment with swordfish.
As a vegan, I can't comment on the quality of the food, but I can complain about the choice of animal product. Swordfish are large, highly migratory predators distributed throughout the world's marine ecosystem. Once a rare site on the dinner table because of their elusive nature, swordfish are again an uncommon dish, but this time because of a dwindling population.
The problems facing the perpetuation of this particular species are many. Given the fishes' international habitat range, all conservation efforts are faced by the co-operation difficulties inherent in establishing worldwide protection programs.
Preservation is also complicated by the highly commercial nature of the current fishing industry and increasing consumer demand for "healthy" fish products. As a result of these many pressures, swordfish in the North Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean have been officially classified as an over-fished species by the International Commission for the Conservation of the Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
Meanwhile, fish in the Mediterranean Sea, the South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean are suspected to be fully fished. Indeed, over-fishing of the North Atlantic stocks has caused serious change in both the US fisheries industry and in recreational fishing.
In the 1960s, most swordfish caught in the North Atlantic weighed more than 250 pounds. Due primarily to over-fishing, the averaged-sized swordfish caught in the North Atlantic today weighs 90 pounds. Further, juvenile fish are being caught; over two-thirds of the net catch are not old enough to breed. More disconcerting is the number of discarded fish. In 1996, there were over 40,000 fish thrown away by US fishermen principally because they were below the legal catch size.
As a result, it is evident that the continuation of a sustainable swordfish population is being seriously threatened. Many individuals have realized the dangers facing the swordfish population. Indeed, there have been several initiatives which have attempted to fight for the conservation of swordfish. The "Give Swordfish a Break" campaign, lead by SeaWeb, successfully lobbied for the closure of swordfish nursing areas to fishing.
As well, the group effectively petitioned several well-known restaurants and large organizations, including the Peabody hotel chain, United Airlines, and grocery stores such as Wild Oats, to remove swordfish from their menus and dining choices. Nevertheless, while there are minimal quotas, size requirements and stock management programs in the US, these measures are hardly effective at invigorating the depleted international population.
While the diminished swordfish population should be a major consideration for anyone opting for the "swordfish special," we should additionally remember that there are also problems associated with the longline gear used for swordfishing. A non-selective tool, longline gear catches and kills a variety of unintended victims including sharks, bullfish, and endangered sea turtles. As such, the consumption of swordfish has many weighty environmental impacts.
These severe issues force us to re-evaluate our food choices and should encourage everyone to boycott all swordfish entrees. Hopefully this will persuade Tufts Dining Services to eliminate swordfish from their menus and in doing so, lessen the pressure on the swordfish population. And as for me, I'll stick to my goldfish crackers.
Jennifer Ko is a freshman who has not declared a major.
