Wat mag jy eet?

Ever notice how small your order of kingfish had become......

Help from the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative

The biggest set back in making positive changes to the destruction of the planet is a lack of awareness and knowledge. Most people want to do the right thing, but for the most part they don’t know how, or they simply don’t know when they’re doing the wrong thing.

Are those little shells on your bracelets and belts sustainably harvested? What about the porcupine quills that are fashionably decorating greeting cards? Are you using environmentally friendly detergents? Do you conscientiously recycle waste? Are your wooden furnishings and floors from a sustainable forest? Do you invest in shares or support a company that has good environmental principals or one that is destroying the planet?

With every decision we make and with every purchase we make, we have the power to make a difference. But for most, figuring out the “right thing to do”, is often very difficult.

One area where we can find assistance in making the right decisions is in our consumption of SEAFOOD.

SASSI (SOUTHERN AFRICAN SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD INITIATIVE) is an organisation formed in response to the dwindling fish stocks and critical need to create awareness. The intention of this article is to convince you, that as a diver, as a South African, and as a person sharing in the resources of this planet, you too have a responsibility in resource sustainability; for now and for the future.

For decades, global fish stocks have become a matter of grave concern for many nations. The problem now faces South Africa. Fish stocks have collapsed and are at a mere fraction of their former numbers. In addition, consideration must be given to the fact that fish stock calculations began long after harvesting began, indicating that the collapse gradient is dramatically steeper than statistics show.

Some contributing factors by modern fishing methods include:

• Sonar - Detection of fish stocks through the use modern sonar.
• Trawls and long liners – Indiscriminate and highly effective.
• Diet - The newfound popularity of fish as a healthy and classy alternative to red meat.
• Misconception - The old belief that the sea is boundless.
• Deception – ‘Yesterday’s’ bycatch is today’s ‘catch of the day’. This is a direct result of over fishing a popular species until there is not enough left to support demand.

“The most recent revision of linefish stock status has revealed that out of the top 27 recreationally important species, for which sufficient information was available, 18 (67%) were classified as “collapsed”, one species was found to be “over-exploited”, four were considered “optimally-exploited”, and only two species were “under-exploited”. For commercial species, it is no different, with six out of the ten most important commercial species falling well below critical levels in the Western Cape region, where the bulk of national linefish catches are made. Some well-known species like the dusky kob are estimated to be down to 2% of original spawner-biomass per recruit levels. As a crude comparison, imagine if the estimated human population of 4 million for the Cape Metropole were reduced by 98%. That would leave a cool 80 000 people, and a vast improvement in peak hour traffic!” Jaco Barendse, SASSI

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Download the Consumers Seafood Pocket Guide. Feel free to distribute a copy to friends and family. Every time you go to a seafood restaurant or buy seafood from a store, ask if they support the SASSI. Insist on knowing exactly what you are buying and check the status of your intended fish purchase on your list.

Don’t buy / consume fish on the red or orange lists.

The only seafood’s that we should be buying are those listed on the green list.

If in a restaurant or shop you find species listed on the red or orange lists, please try and make an effort to inform the restaurant and shop owners or managers of the status of the species. Let them know that you will not purchase such an item. Of course, that’s your choice and some choices are difficult to make.

CALLING A FISH A FISH

The use of common names for fish creates a tricky situation that is often misleading. Most vendors sell fish by a name that can be, in actual fact, a myriad of different species. They can easily just call a red listed or endangered fish by the name of a green listed fish. Most lay consumers would not know the difference. Most people, including chefs and restaurateurs, and fishermen themselves, cannot accurately identify the difference between similar looking fish. This is where SASSI’s program to educate and create awareness for restaurateurs, chefs and grocers is so powerful and beneficial. However, without compliance, without individuals and businesses accepting responsibility, the efforts of SASSI are meaningless. Without conscious effort and diligent application, fish stocks will continue to decline at an ever increasing rate, until species’, one after the other, become extinct. We are more than that. The world is fast, and pressures are many; time is a most valuable commodity. However, as little of it as we have, some of our time and concern, should be given back to the species with which we share this planet.

You can read and download more at www.panda.org.za/sassi

So go ahead, download your copy of the SASSI consumer pocket guide and start doing your bit for the ocean.