Seafood Sustainability Means Real and Effective Control Mechanisms

Anybody that has paid the least bit of attention to the goings on of the world at large will have noticed that environmental sustainability is at risk on a wide variety of fronts-nigh on all of them it might be said! Particularly, the plight of the world's oceans has garnered a lot of headlines over the last few years, with the levels of pollution reaching alarming heights and with commercial seafood harvest practices and volumes widely exceeding reasonable limits and safe practices. Fortunately, however, there has been a counterpoint to all this, and it is to be found in the state of Alaska, where sustainability has been given priority over all private interests.



In Alaska, fishing is more than just an industry-it's a way of life. At the state level, the commercial seafood harvest and processing industries constitute the largest source of employment and income, and literally entire communities depend on the continued existence of this form of earning a livelihood. In sum, if Alaska fails to guarantee the sustainability of commercial fishing operations, then the state economy will quite seriously come crashing down. In light of this predicament, the state has historically been a leader in seafood sustainability policies and practices, shining a light in what can otherwise be described as the dark and irresponsible world of commercial fishing.



Consider the decline of the great tuna catches of the Atlantic Ocean: in decades past, an incredible volume of truly gargantuan tuna were caught in the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, being considered among the most coveted kinds of seafood in the world. However, today it's practically impossible to find the big specimens of yesteryear, and population levels are also looking scarily slender. On the other hand, there is the story of the great Alaskan salmon catches: commercial seafood harvest levels of Alaska salmon have (for most species) remained at or very near historical records and in fact new records have been set in recent years, while the size of specimens remains at more than adequate levels. And so the story goes with many different species native to the North Pacific and Alaska's waters; in fact, no Alaska seafood species has ever even been put on the endangered species list. May that continue indefinitely!



It's up to us to protect the planet. Check out the sustainability tips from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Alaska's fishermen have a long tradition of effectiveresource management to ensure that generations to come can enjoy fresh seafood.