Goodbye, Fish and Chips

It is America's most common seafood product, found in frozen fish sticks, fish and chips and imitation crab meat. Worldwide, it supplies McDonald's with its main ingredient for fish sandwiches. It is Alaska pollock and the world's largest fishery where it is caught is on the verge of collapse. Every year, one million tons of the fish are taken from the sea -- but they cannot reproduce fast enough to meet global demand.

Humans aren't the only ones who eat pollock: Whales, fur seals and the endangered Stellar sea lions rely on it for their survival. In December, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council will meet to set catch limits for 2009. Greenpeace has called for cutting the catch in half. Hopefully, fast food junkies will try to steer clear from ordering the Filet-o-Fish for a little while to give this important fishery a chance to recover.

GET INFORMED

• Read "Pollock fishery on brink of collapse, Greenpeace says" (Vancouver Sun, October 11, 2008)

GET INVOLVED

• Download the Environmental Defense Fund's "Pocket Eco-Friendly Fish Selector" to make choices that help prevent overfishing
• Sign the Pew Environment Group petition urging the US National Marine Fisheries Service to stop overfishing

photo: yuankuei