[Atlantic] ...someone in this generation will be the last human to eat a bluefin tuna

Agreed. Communists don't eat tuna. We should have learned our lesson when capitalism killed off the Woolly Mammoth.

 

I don't really know how to feel about this.

I guess it just comes down to whether you feel that our actions are part of the natural order or not.

 

I'm a little surprised at some of the reactions (and the lack of reaction) to losing what I consider a major species in our oceans. Whether we care to be concerned about it, or not, there is a balance in the ocean environment that has taken millions of years to come about. That we can so disrupt and damage it in a relatively short time is not only a bummer, but may come back to bite us, big time.

 

You need better reading comprehension. Capitalism isn't the cause for all extinctions. In this case it is.

You're not going to get fishers to stop fishing bluefin when its rarity is a big reason why it expensive and heavily sought after.

 

repped for truth.

The environment is ****ed.

 

Perhaps many of us here just have lost all hope for humanity. I strongly believe that we're going to destroy the world and ourselves in the process. It's a lock.

 

That is interesting, but my question was more about whether or not you count human activity as natural or not... no matter how destructive or helpful it may be.

I'm guessing you consider it not to count it as part of nature, etc.

Which is fine.

 

There is no "natural" check on human overpopulation thanks to technology. Sure, eventually the environment will cascade from "frail" to "imminent mass starvation and worldwide cataclysm" but that's hardly natural. If wolves overpopulate, they die off until the deer rebound.

 

Are you sure about that? I don't think I want to find out

 

If you read a bit further in that post, there is definitely a "check" on humanity.

 

Granted, my wife is a chef, and I have a lot of chef friends. That being said, it bothers me that sustainable fishing and farming is joked about so cavalierly. There are plenty of seafood species that can be eaten without worry about the entire species becoming extinct or reaching the brink where commercial fishing is endangered. Bluefin tuna is in the same category as shark fins and chilean sea bass. Some kid about them tasting great, but your kids will never know that.

It's the same attitude with sustainable farming. Particularly in America with farm subsidies, we practically make farmers grow food that does not benefit their soil, making future crops more difficult. Don't even get me started on the corn industry.

Luckily there are a growing number of restaurants that will only sell sustainable foods. It's not nearly enough to stop the extinction of several species, but it's a start. Hopefully that trend will continue, and local, sustainable farming will become a lot more popular.

However, my company's holiday party is at Landry's, and I noticed that Chilean sea bass is a seafood choice. We're not going to have it as an option, but management at my company had no idea that it was an endangered fish. I'm going to give the people at Landry's a lecture after the party.

 

Definitely a good question. I personally see man as part of nature and thus their actions as natural. I've never understood the "that's not natural" argument for any reason. IMO, all things are natural.

 

I respectfully disagree.

But I totally understand that line of reasoning.

I would say when something is done, be it harmful or helpful, that is not done toward the goal of survival, then it could be counted as unnatural.

Maybe it is fair to count something as unnatural if it is done toward the goal of luxury/gluttony?

 

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1934027_1934003_1933946,00.html

 

Does that mean that humans with motorboats and longlines is part of the natural order?

 

Chilean sea bass should really go back to being called Patagonian Tooth Fish.

 

Explain to me why it is not

 

I can't wait until my wife can't make Tuna Salad anymore. The more things that mayonnaise is used for that disappear the better!