By-catch
Surfing past the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, I pulled over to learn about the "Oceanic Fisheries Programme" and added the term "by-catch" to the vocabulary before moving on again. It means, by the way, the unwanted species caught by the fishing industry or, more precisely, "Any catch of species (fish, sharks, marine mammals, turtles, seabirds, etc.) other than the target species. 'Incidental catch' can be regarded as synonymous..." (Bailey et al. 1996).
The reality of "by-catch" is that one-quarter of the total landed catch of fish is discarded annually worldwide. And that's not the only disturbing fact about the fishing industry. Take the humble anchovy. Turkish trawlers have almost fished out the Black Sea anchovy population, and Thai "pirate trawlers" are said to be taking as much as ten times the sustainable yield of anchovies in Thailand's coastal area. The thing is that most of these anchovies are ground up and fed to Atlantic salmon raised in fish farms. The problem is that it takes 1.8 million tons of wild fish ground into fishmeal to produce 544 tons of market-ready, farm-fed salmon. At this rate of conversion, the raising of carnivorous fish poses a direct threat to fish stocks lower down the food chain.
With aquaculture now producing one-quarter of all the fish we eat, and the figure expected to rise to more than one-half by 2030, it's obvious that we'll have to move towards raising herbivorous fish such as carp, catfish and tilapia. Smoked carp on toast? Don't turn up your nose like that. It's a delicacy in Montenegro.
Diarist of the day: James Lees-Milne, 18 October 1973"Wishing to buy another odd pair of trousers I went to what used to be called The Trouser Shop next to the Cafe Royal in Regent Street. The entrance looked different. A young man dressed in velvet, although in the middle of the day, approached me. Hesitantly I asked if this establishment still sold trousers. His greeting was 'Hullo!' which took me aback. I replied 'Hullo!' Then asked if he had any trousers that would suit me. With bland surprise he said regretfully, 'We can only cater for clients with a waist of less than 36', and gave me a snide look. 'Besides all our legs are much flared.' Oh dear, I found myself apologising for being so old and untrendy. But on reflection, why the hell should a man apologise for no longer being young, as though he was thereby an inferior being? "
