MarineGeekSpeak

Back on the issue of sustainability, the more I delve into it, the more I have come to realise what a slippery term it is.

My favourite interpretation is perhaps EPA’s.

EPA reasons that “everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment”.

With this in mind, sustainability is about “creating and maintaining conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations”.

Sure, we say. But this sounds massive, like something only the power-wielding big guys (i.e. government and corporations) can pull off. OR screw up for that matter.

Does the average man really have no say over the issue? Not true.

We can make our wallets speak on our behalf through our consumer habits. Sustainability comes under the big umbrella of ethical consumerism. Every time you pay for a product, you are making a vote. Your dollars are telling that you condone and endorse the corporation's practices.

For example, much of the paper products in my native South-east Asia is produced by two mega-corporations – Asia Pulp & Paper(APP) and Asia-Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL), both of which have destroyed vast stretches of native tropical rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia for paper pulp.

By buying APP and APRIL products, we are literally feeding the corporations that turn highly biodiverse native rainforests into toilet paper! 

So what can we do? Use the Ethical shopping guide!

If you reside in Australia, you can download the app to help you make smart snap decisions right in the supermarket aisle. ( Issues covered are worldwide and so even if you live elsewhere, there's still lots you learn from this guide and apply the principles locally. Or you could find a local guide that works for you.)

This guide covers lots of issues like my pet topics overfishing and food miles, and beyond (such as palm oil, factory farming, child exploitation and packaging). And it has done all the home work for you so all you have to do is check your favourite brands against a list.

Corporations depend on our dollars to sustain their business, so each consumer holds a unit of power in his/her wallet. If we band together and speak with our dollars, we can force corporations to listen and change.

This piece of news broke my heart today.

A Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) has been spotted on sale in Shilin, Taipei on 25 Oct 2014. When the police rushed to the scene, only the fish head was left.

The Napoleon is an IUCN Endangered animal. Its large size and palatable flesh has rendered it a fishing target in the past and overfishing has seen its numbers plummet. In Taiwan, it is estimated that no more than 30 individuals are left in the wild.

This individual caught is believed to be a sub-adult, weighing about 12 kg. Napoleon wrasses can grow up to 2 metres and weigh up to 200kg.

While Taipei is not located by the sea, nor does it have any ports, the relative affluence and spending power of the city dwellers means Taipei urbanites hold the fate of Taiwan's marine environment between their chopsticks.

Uh-oh, Garden Cty, looks like we are not so green afterall,

According to WWF's Living Planet Report, Singapore ranks 7th in having the largest per capita ecological footprint, up from 12th in 2012.

This is hardly surprising given our refinery industries and incessant want (note, not need!) of bigger cars and new things.

Being 'green' is not just about building tree-lined boulevards. It is time to buck up.

We can  1. Buy second-hand. Vintage is all the rage! 2. Use our world-class transport system. 3. Go vege Mondays.

Just heard some sad news from the heart of the Coral Triangle.

(Photo by Pere Rubio)

"nothing left but devastation in the heart of Raja Ampat, photo taken 2nd October 2014. There may be nothing left to do for the fish which have been bombed to death but what we do with these images can make a difference. Share, publicise and make people aware that even in the most biodiverse reefs in the world scenes like this still exist and need active protection to prevent further destruction." ~Calvin Beale, Co-founder, Komodo Manta Project

A dive site at Selat Yembaraimuk, North Raja Ampat, has been bombed to smithereens just a few days ago.  This is what a bombed reef looks like: dead fish, smashed corals, total absolute devastation.

Bomb fishing has been outlawed in Indonesia since the 1980s but with 18,307 islands in the archipelago and a total coastline of 95,181 km (according to WRI), enforcing the ban is no easy feat.

Putting ourselves in the shoes of bomb fishers, it is really not hard to understand why they do what they do -- to make a living and provide for their loved ones, just like you and I.

While marine reserves can protect some areas, the true solution to the problem is education and alternative livelihood. Here is how you can help.

Volunteer! Sea Sanctuaries Trust does good work in Raja Ampat with the local communities, teaching them to recognize the value of their natural resources and supporting alternative livelihood ventures. They can always use an extra pair of hands. http://www.seasanctuaries.org/sea-sanctuaries-raja-ampat-conservation-volunteer-projects/

Visit! Raja Ampat is home to one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. If you are looking for your next holiday destination, why not consider an eco- resort? Misool Eco-Resort and Papuan Diving employs 115 and 85 local islanders respectively, providing them with an alternative to fishing. Misool is also involved in manta conservation and reef restoration. Make your holiday a meaningful one! http://www.misoolecoresort.com/

With time, education, eco-tourism and YOUR help, hopefully one day, scenes like Selat Yembaraimuk would be a thing of the past.

Over the weekend, I checked out a photo exhibition by the Taiwan Association for Marine Environmental Education (TAMEE) in the Keelung National Museum of Marine Science and Technology,

This photo and its accompanying verses struck a chord with me.

If

If one day, our landlady, Mother Earth,

Decides to inspect the house and its facilities,

We, the tenants who grossy overuse water and electricity

Litters and steals other tenants' food,

And yet refuse to pay rent,

Will no doubt be the first to be evicted.

Evicted. That is a terrible thought to entertain.

It is time to clean up our act.

So this little piggy biologist went home after her little foray at the fish market and wondered what went wrong?

No doubt that it is a daunting task to select sustainable seafood, but the guide is supposed to make it easier, isn't it?

So then why is it still so tough? What can be done to make it easier? 

Here are my suggestions:

1) Proper labelling of seafood

The WWF seafood guide lists seafood choices based on source countries and method (what type of fishery or aquaculture). So in order for consumers to use it, our fish markets and supermarkets need to adopt the same labelling.

Alternatively, the guide needs to change.

2) Reflect local seafood availability

Many of the fish found in my neighbourhood market were not in the seafood guide at all! I am at a loss when face with these choices as it is no easy task to determine if the seafood is indeed sustainable. To do so, I would have to trace each fish, prawn or shellfish back through the supply line to its source, find out the current stocks available in the fisheries, know the catch/populations trends over the past years or in the case of an aquaculture facility, find out the sources of its seed stock and make sure its practices are sound. This is no easy task!

All in all, I see this problem as a result of mismatch between the guide and options available to consumers.

Perhaps this is due to the lack of information on Southeast Asian fisheries. Afterall, the lack of centralized control of fishermen in the region makes for difficult sustainability assessments. In contrast, developed countries such as Australia and Canada have years of detailed fisheries data and can effectively enforce catch quotas, gear restrictions and boat licensing through legislations.

This is probably why the green "recommended" list predominantly consists of seafood from outside of Southeast Asia.

Image from WWF. Get your downloadable seafood guide here. (More "green" seafood items have been added since this pocket guide was published in 2010. Yayyy! See updated list here.)

Alright, so that is all fine and dandy. Just choose frozen, imported seafood from sustainable sources, right?

Not quite. Team CoLing is all about sustainability, minimizing our carbon footprint etc. That MSC-certified Pacific salmon from a sustainable fishery in Alaska has racked up more frequent flyer miles getting to my dining table than I have in a year! That is NOT okay with me.

Hmmm... So then, how can I make the most sustainable choice based on what I know and what is available?

Perhaps this brings me back to the fundamental question: what exactly is sustainability?

We love fish.

The boy loves to eat fish and I love to swim/dive with them. Divergent as our love for fish may be, we are united in our desire to conserve them. (Albeit for very very different reasons!)

Global fisheries have been declining. As global population rises, and with it, the demand for protein. The ocean, vast as it may seem, is not inexhaustible. Coupled with the "tragedy of the commons", global fish stocks are headed for collapse. 

So what can the regular man on the street do to help? Enter the Sustainable Seafood Guide! WWF made this nifty pocket-sized guide with its interactive counterpart to help consumers to make more sustainable choices.

So I went shopping, seafood guide in hand, at a local wet market in my neighbourhood. Look at all this fish on sale!!

"Woohoo!! So many fishes!! This is great!" I thought.

Let's look it up in the guide and see which types of fish are "recommended" (green), "think twice" (orange), and "avoid" (red). Awesomely intuitive traffic light system. I know my fish, I can do this!

Yeah right... Here's what I found.

Identifying the fish to the best of my knowledge and then looking it up in the guide. I realised that I don't know much about these fish on sale at all! I do not have information on most of these fish (grey boxes) and can't identify two of them.

Of these, the mackerel is the only one which MAY be sustainable, but ONLY if it is caught with a gillnet in Malaysia and not by trolling in Indonesia (which will make fall under the orange "think twice" category).

"Say what?!" The fish monger could not me tell where the fish is from. The barramundi or seabass as it is commonly known, if cultured in Singapore, would fall in the orange category but once again I can't be completely sure.

The red snappers are such a tease just by themselves. There are about five species of snappers available in the region but even I can't tell all of them apart. My best guesses for the day's catch - red emperor snapper (Lutjanus sebae) and the mangrove snapper (L. argentimaculatus). Both of which are not in the seafood guide. The two listed snappers, crimson snapper (L. erythropterus) and Malabar snapper (L. malabaricus), are both on the red "avoid" list.

So much for calling myself a fish biologist. There goes my reputation.

Nevertheless, this little exercise just goes to show how hard it is for a consumer to make sustainable seafood choices. Even with the seafood guide in hand!

Here's why.

1) Identification headaches

Apart from the usual seabass, pomfret and grouper, it is tough for one to know exactly what type of fish one is looking at, much less look it up in a guide.

What about sliced up and descaled fish? I don't even dare venture there.

So proper labelling is essential to help consumers make a choice.

In a supermarket, things get a little easier since fish are labelled. But this also highlights the next issue.

2)  Lack of sustainable choices

A look at the supermarket selection reveals that most of the seafood available are not listed or they belong in the orange list.  Tiger prawns are labelled a funky colour cos they are green if from an Australia fishery, but red if from Indonesia  or Thailand. Again, I can't be sure.

So, the boy has been bugging encouraging me to write a blog for a while now. "It'll be a good outlet for my daily incessant geeky moments." he says.

Truth. We get excited about the gorgeous marine environment and the marvellous creatures that never cease to amaze us; get concerned about the destruction we hear about and the dwindling fish stocks and are bolstered by the good work of other environmentalists around the globe. All these and more, on a DAILY basis.

That's us I guess. I am Ling, a passionate diver turned marine ecologist/fisheries biologist/environmentalist/educator. And the boy is Colin, a coral reef fish ecologist/conservation biologist at Tunghai University, Taiwan.  Together, we like to call ourselves Team CoLing.

And this is a blog about our musings on marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, sustainable seafood consumption, home farming and whatever tickles our fancy in our geeky moments.

More to come. Akan datang...