ocean's decline

Image Source: Nature article

When a friend recently told me about a new report out showing that phytoplankton, the source of much of the world's oxygen and which stands at the very base of much of the planet's food chain, has declined by forty percent since 1950, I was shocked.  Jaw droppingly shocked.  Oh my.  This is big news.  Phytoplankton makes the world go around. The reason for the decline, scientists say, is global warming.  You can read about the research in this Nature news piece,  "Ocean greenery under warming stress, A century of phytoplankton decline suggests that ocean ecosystems are in peril."

(Closer to home we've seen what happens when plankton is depleted.  When invasive zebra mussels depleted Lake Michigan's plankton supply, native perch, much beloved for its starring role in Friday fish fries, drastically declined.  Local outdoors writer, Paul Smith, wrote about the 90% reduction in Lake Michigan perch in less than twenty years in this Journal Sentinel article.)

This phytoplankton research adds to what we already know about the precarious state of sea life. Earlier this summer, we learned about the massive worldwide decline of the much beloved, warm blooded, blue fin tuna population in an epic New York Times Magazine piece by Paul Greenberg titled "Tuna's End."   Blue fin tuna is one among many species that are over-fished world wide.  Pair that with suboptimal ocean habitat, due to ocean acidification and ruination of breeding grounds due to industrial fishing practices and pollution, and we can expect to soon see the end of the "Age of Tuna."  Many groups are calling for a complete moratorium on blue fin tuna fishing.

What's an eater to do?  Of course we know the health benefits of seafood, especially those with flesh rich in omega 3 fatty acids, such as wild salmon and tuna.  (It's interesting to me to note that within the sea-food-chain, the omega 3's in fish originate in phytoplankton.)  I explored this issue back in 2008 in the blogpost "Finding Sustainable Seafood."  That post identifies some options for non-marine sources of dietary omega-3s and includes a link to a sustainable seafood selector tool.  Here's another great resource:

Quick Tips from the Sustainable Seafood Guide on the NRDC website.

Eat lower on the food chain

Buy American

Buy wild

Eat local

Buy from trusted retailers

Ask where your fish came from

Look for the blue, Marine Stewardship Council sticker

Sustainable Nutrition Bottom-line:  Obviously, global warming must be halted if we hope to allay the very worst effects of ocean acidification and species decline.  As eaters, we can choose to follow a low-carbon diet and to think carefully about our seafood choices.  We do have power in the food choices we make everyday.  Our appetites shape the world.