Alaska Pollock: Feeding Fish-Stick Nation No place off America’s coasts produces as much fish as the Bering Sea. And no fish is more plentiful in America’s harvests than the Alaska pollock. Pollock is deep-fried and sold as “Fillet-O-Fish” sandwiches at McDonald’s or frozen fish sticks. It is minced into a bland white substance and sold …
Breaking Point in the Bering Sea By Paul Koberstein Shaped like a diamond and perched on top of the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea is one of the richest cold water ecosystems in the world, if not the very richest. Deep ocean currents gathering in far regions of the globe terminate in the Bering Sea …
Essential Coral Gardens: North Pacific council rejects plan to protect coral and sponge, though it meant little reduction in commercial fishing Every year, from Baja California to the Bering Sea, 1 million pounds of coral are scraped up in the pursuit of the groundfish that populate the cold, deep waters of the Continental Shelf. Commercial …
Fixing our failed fisheries Naked self-interest, ignoring warning signs of declining species, knowingly permitting overfishing, and looking the other way when accidental catches – or bycatch – severely deplete vulnerable species such as sea turtles: these are just a few of the features of the failing management system that governs the precious resources of the …
Is it Fresh? …and other important questions to ask at the seafood market by Elizabeth Grossman At low tide in Sitka, Alaska, I watched bald eagles, ravens and small shore birds dive for fish and feast on sea creatures along the beach. That evening friends shared Dungeness crab they’d just hauled out of the bay, …
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Is This What Gov. Tom McCall Had in Mind? BY PAUL KOBERSTEIN Tom McCall called it a shameless threat to our environment and to our whole quality of life, an unfettered despoiling of the land, a “coastal condomania.” In his opening address to the 1973 Oregon Legislature, Gov. McCall explained, “We are dismayed that we …
It’s All About the Ecosystem: Experts Urge Pacific Fisheries Council to Take a More Holistic Approach The catchphrase for President Clinton’s 1992 campaign framed the main issue and probably helped win the election: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Today, in the California Current, it’s all about the ecosystem, or more accurately, it’s all about the neglect …
New threats for leatherbacks By Paul Koberstein It’s August 2007 and scientists are heading for the beach — but not for a swim. It is just after sunset, and they are patrolling the sand for sea turtles whom they hope will crawl out of the surf and start digging their nests. The location is Jamursba-Medi, …
No Refuge Strictly speaking, our National Marine Sanctuaries aren’t truly “sanctuaries” at all When Congress passed legislation creating National Marine Sanctuaries in 1972, it recognized that oceans are ecosystems, but lack the same kind of protection as special areas on land. “This Nation historically has recognized the importance of protecting special areas of its public …
One of the World’s Richest Ecosystems, the California Current Carries 10 Times ss Much Water as the Amazon By Paul Koberstein The California Current spins clockwise along the West Coast, a cog in the enormous North Pacific Gyre. The California Current is said to be as rich if not richer with marine life than any …