13 replies to this topic

[Shortpoet-GTD]

For the longest time, I bought farmed cat-fish (the only food item standing between
me and being a vegan) for about $10 for a 5 lb. box.

I haven't been able to find any in stores recently, but yesterday, I saw a 4 lb.
bag for $26!
Huh?

Floods have caused farmers to rethink farming them, and ethanol
is in high demand, so they're replanting their fields for corn. Also, cheaper foreign
imports from China and Viet Nam are pricing local farmers out.
But theirs are often tainted with chemicals and not allowed into this country.

http://www.thefishsi...mraised-catfish
Production/harvest is down.

https://docs.google....ii_JOYMjvuodH1g

[zararina]

That was right that catfish seems not a popular fish in the market anymore. Just like here, have not seeing some catfish as I used to see them often before, every time I would go to the public wet market.  And if ever there will be a catfish in the supermarket wet section, it was so expensive.

[Liv]

Wow! I used to love eating catfish!! In fact it was the one fish (except tuna) that I truly enjoyed. I haven't seen it in ages here either (UK). It is sad sad news, everything is being farmed into non-existence - makes me feel so guilty! I really wish I had the willpower to be vegan, I really do! Maybe that will be my new year's resolution!

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Liv, on 22 December 2011 - 12:08 PM, said:

Wow! I used to love eating catfish!! In fact it was the one fish (except tuna) that I truly enjoyed. I haven't seen it in ages here either (UK). It is sad sad news, everything is being farmed into non-existence - makes me feel so guilty! I really wish I had the willpower to be vegan, I really do! Maybe that will be my new year's resolution!

It's unavailability has forced me to being a vegan because I won't eat tuna anymore.
But with the two of us not eating them, maybe they'll make a comeback?

[mariaandrea]

I wondered about that, but not enough to look it up. The fish counter in my grocery store used to have cheap catfish all the time that I regularly bought but I don't see it as much any more. That's a shame. It's a healthy fish to eat and one of the few that's okay for farming.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Environmentally it's better too than consuming "wild caught" fish and depleting those populations.

[makeitmom]

During the summer -- just a couple of times a year -- I go fishing with my family. It's probably one of the few times we eat catfish, but I know the feeling of just how much prices have risen for food in the past few years. It makes me want to grow more every year.

Thank goodness I have a mom who's taught me how to sow seeds just as well as how to grow them -- the price of seeds aren't cheap either.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Looks like farmed salmon is going out too because mackerel/anchovies have been over-fished.
And you guessed it-markets are selling "wild caught" instead, so that resource will soon be over-fished and gone too.
Will we ever learn?

"Farmed salmon, that ubiquitous pink fish decorated with ribbons of fat, can thank the forage fish of the southern
Pacific ocean – like anchovy and jack mackerel – for their calorie-rich diet.
Indeed, more than 5 pounds of jack mackerel typically can go towards raising 1 pound of farmed salmon.

According to scientists the ICIJ spoke to, "supertrawler" fishing vessels from Asia, Europe and Latin America
have contributed to a 63 percent decline in jack mackerel stocks since 2006.
At the current rate of overfishing, the world's stock of jack mackerel, which is largely located off the coast of Chile,
could collapse soon.
"This is the last of the buffaloes," Daniel Pauly, an oceanographer at the University of British Columbia, told ICIJ.
"When they're gone, everything will be gone ... This is the closing of the frontier."
The investigation is the third in ICFJ's series "Looting the Seas," which has also looked at the black market in bluefin tuna,
and how fishing subsidies in Spain have built up a bloated fleet that is partly responsible for the depletion of Europe's fish stocks."

• http://www.npr.org/b...ine?ft=1&f=1025
  
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[brihooter]

I have never tried catfish before.  Does it taste similiar to tuna?  I am not a huge fish eater to begin with so I'm picky on what I will eat.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

brihooter, on 31 January 2012 - 11:44 AM, said:

I have never tried catfish before.  Does it taste similiar to tuna?  I am not a huge fish eater to begin with so I'm picky on what I will eat.

Not similar in taste at all. I no longer eat tuna because too many dolphins get caught in the traps.
I won't eat wild caught anything, really.

[mariaandrea]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 30 January 2012 - 01:31 PM, said:

Looks like farmed salmon is going out too because mackerel/anchovies have been over-fished.
And you guessed it-markets are selling "wild caught" instead, so that resource will soon be over-fished and gone too.
Will we ever learn?

"Farmed salmon, that ubiquitous pink fish decorated with ribbons of fat, can thank the forage fish of the southern
Pacific ocean – like anchovy and jack mackerel – for their calorie-rich diet.
Indeed, more than 5 pounds of jack mackerel typically can go towards raising 1 pound of farmed salmon.

According to scientists the ICIJ spoke to, "supertrawler" fishing vessels from Asia, Europe and Latin America
have contributed to a 63 percent decline in jack mackerel stocks since 2006.
At the current rate of overfishing, the world's stock of jack mackerel, which is largely located off the coast of Chile,
could collapse soon.
"This is the last of the buffaloes," Daniel Pauly, an oceanographer at the University of British Columbia, told ICIJ.
"When they're gone, everything will be gone ... This is the closing of the frontier."
The investigation is the third in ICFJ's series "Looting the Seas," which has also looked at the black market in bluefin tuna,
and how fishing subsidies in Spain have built up a bloated fleet that is partly responsible for the depletion of Europe's fish stocks."

• http://www.npr.org/b...ine?ft=1&f=1025
  
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• 
  
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Sorry, but no no no. Farmed salmon is bad. I live in salmon country. I grew up in the industry, would not care to think of how many thousands of pounds of salmon I've processed... Wild caught is the best choice, both for our health - PCBs and anitibiotics in farmed salmon - and the health of the planet - farmed salmon pollutes the surrounding waters and lands. The best choice is to eat wild salmon, but keep consumption reasonable and eat other fish as well. We have limits on just how many salmon can be harvested around here and as long as we keep pressure on goverment to monitor those limits closely we'll be okay. There are a LOT of scientists here monitoring the health of salmon stocks and we've had some successes tearing down dams and reintroducing salmon into traditional spawning rivers they haven't had access to. Anyway, here's a good and brief article about why farmed salmon is bad. If you use the "FS" words in this corner of the country, you might get dirty looks.

http://blog.seattlep...he-environment/

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Thanks for the info!
Honestly, it's a blue moon purchase anyway,
I just don't want to contribute to the overfishing of species.

[brihooter]

I probably wouldn't like catfish then.  When I say tuna I'm talking about the tuna in cans.  I'm not sure if you thought I was talking about the tuna raw like at a sushi place.  I won't eat that kind.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

brihooter, on 01 February 2012 - 10:18 AM, said:

I probably wouldn't like catfish then.  When I say tuna I'm talking about the tuna in cans.  I'm not sure if you thought I was talking about the tuna raw like at a sushi place.  I won't eat that kind.

Eaten raw (canned or at a sushi place) or cooked=doesn't matter. Too many dolphins die.