Worse Things Happen At Sea CULTIVATING COMPASSION
Trawling, one common fishing method whereby heavy nets are hauled along the ocean floor, has been found to emit more carbon than that of air travel. It is also highly damaging to ocean biodiversity, catching any animal in the way and destroying precious coral ecosystems that can take centuries to form. Seafood products can have extremely large carbon footprints — up to 14 times their own weight — and aquaculture can emit more methane, and create more greenhouse gasses than cows per pound of liveweight. As fish populations become increasingly depleted due to overfishing, pollution, and the climate crisis, ships have to travel farther and farther to find them, creating more emissions from fuel and from refrigeration needed to preserve the catch. Within the animal aquaculture sector, greenhouse gas emissions from shrimp farming and fish farming are especially problematic. The oceans absorb the vast majority of excess atmospheric heat, and it’s marine animals who first suffer the effects of global warming. Last year, the world’s oceans were the hottest ever recorded. As the ocean grows warmer, its ability to hold oxygen decreases, making it harder for aquatic animals to obtain it. Many are forced to relocate due to the temperature increase, which can be very challenging, and some are unable to do so for various reasons. Warming waters, coupled with agricultural runoff in coastal areas, can increase the growth of algae, which, as it dies, consumes large amounts of oxygen, creating large dead zones where life can’t survive. As more and more carbon is absorbed, it lowers the waters’ pH, making it more acidic. This also makes it more difficult for animals, including for crabs, lobsters, shrimps and other shellfish to grow their shells, and it can dissolve coral. Coral reefs are home to about twenty-five percent of marine species. They serve as a nursery for many marine animals, and are essential to marine life. Coral bleaching is another symptom of the climate crisis, and scientists fear coral reefs may become extinct within the next century. The climate crisis also affects freshwater ecosystems, and is estimated to significantly threaten about half of freshwater fish species. We need to take a holistic view. Aquatic populations are half of what they were 50 years ago, largely due to overfishing, pollution, and global warming. In addition to the trillions of fishes who are inhumanely caught every year, countless other animals are caught with them, most of whom are thrown back dead and dying. With decreasing fish numbers and increasing costs of fishing, human slavery has become rampant in the fishing industry. Having stripped their own waters, China and others are plundering those of other countries, depriving humans and other animals there of the fish on whom they are dependent for survival. Much of the catch, being untraceable, is sold here and in other affluent countries. Animal aquaculture is the fastest growing of the animal food producing sectors. It is looked to as a solution to overfishing. In actuality, it is a huge part of the problem due to such a large percentage of wild-caught fishes being used as food for farmed fishes, shrimps and other farmed animals, and due to the immense pollution and disease it generates. Seafood certification schemes are dubious at best. For example, Make Stewardship Count, “a coalition of more than 90 marine conservation experts, organizations, and researchers from around the world working to hold sustainable seafood certifications to account,” explains: “The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label, which millions of consumers rely on for trusted seafood, is increasingly being awarded to fisheries that routinely catch thousands of vulnerable animals, waste excessive amounts of sea life, irreversibly damage our ecosystems, and catch overfished species.” Mislabeling is rampant in the seafood industry, and certification systems are plagued by it, too. Most such certification schemes also fail to take animal welfare into consideration. Science has shown that fishes can suffer fear and pain, and there is compelling evidence that shellfishes also can. They are not covered by the Animal Welfare Act or the Humane Slaughter continued on page 38
BY MARY FINELLI; EDITED BY CAM MACQUEEN “Worse things happen at sea” is an expression intended to put a person at ease about their own problems. Its origin is uncertain, but increasingly it is taking on new meaning. Undeniably, Earth is undergoing a climate crisis, and scientific consensus holds that it is primarily caused by human activities. The massive burning of fossil fuels over the past 150 years has drastically increased the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses which trap heat, preventing it from dissipating into outer space, while the destruction of forests and wetlands have removed these natural sources that store carbon. According to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration): “Human activities have raised the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide content by 50% in less than 200 years.” The increase in temperature is dramatically altering weather, resulting in extreme heat, more intense storms, drought, and rising seas as glaciers melt.
Agriculture, particularly animal agriculture, is a major source of greenhouse gas. Methane, produced by the digestion process of cows and other ruminants, is one of the most potent greenhouse gasses. People are often advised to eat other animals instead for this reason; but it’s animal consumption in general that is problematic, and global warming is far from the sole problem caused by it. Among the many environmental problems with animal agriculture is the destruction of woods and other natural areas for grazing and crop production, the ways the crops are produced, and the pollution from farmed animal wastes. The intentional killing of countless wildlife, allegedly for the protection of cattle, sheep, etc., is also very environmentally detrimental and it is grossly inhumane — as is the treatment of farmed animals. Climate Costs and the Effects of Industry The carbon cost of consuming cows (in particular) is often compared to the huge carbon cost of air travel and other fossil fuel-powered transportation. Eating aquatic animals is commonly suggested as a less carbon-intensive alternative to consuming cows, but it can be even more problematic. The oceans serve as enormous carbon storage systems, storing 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere, and 20 times more than land plants and soil combined. (Marine plants also produce about half of the Earth’s oxygen.) Carbon contained in marine plants is moved to the oceans’ floor in the waste products of the animals who consume them. Carbon from deceased marine animals and plants is also stored there.
PATHWAYS—Spring 23—17
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