Hipster Must-See: The Cove

This will probably be the hardest post to write while attempting to not be an angry, irrational mess while doing so.  Tonight, after having it on Netflix for weeks and building myself up emotionally, I finally had the guts to watch The Cove.  I've been interested in oceanic conservation and preservation since my late university years, and as I grow older and more knowledgeable, I have only become more interested and active.

First of all, I think that everyone, everywhere, should watch this movie.  I know that it's difficult to see these images, and I know that many people are far too busy taking care of their families to spend the time watching it, but if millions of people can watch American Idol every night, then I would like to see the millions spend one of those nights watching The Cove.  The plethora of information on health, ocean economics, culture, and animals is astounding, as is the lengths that not only will conservations go through to prevent such an atrocity, but also the lengths that the Japanese will go through to continue the hunt.

To be honest, a lot of the movie was a review for me.  I had seen previews for The Cove months ago, but never managed to catch it in theaters.  I have read books on whaling, have spoken with a fisheries expert from the UN about the Japanese fishing policies, and even know a founder of Greenpeace, needless to say, this is something I'm passionate about.  But what I find terribly shocking is the fact that other people are not knowledgeable about this practice, including larger Japanese populations.

The Cove won the Best Documentary Oscar on Sunday night.  Since their win, I have seen three separate articles on oceans and fisheries.  Could this be the push we need to finally make a change?  Being such a skeptic, I often feel so resolutely hopeless and helpless that it devastates me entirely.  Having watched this film, I am left inspired and slightly more hopeful.  Knowing that there are people out there who care, who make change happen, and who speak as advocates for those who can't, leaves me wanting to do more, be involved, and as the ever so popular Gandhi quote goes "Be the change I want to see in the world."

Maybe you will too.

Sustainable Eating

Every so often, I like to get political, and recently, my political passion has been that of sustainable fishing and eating.  Most people in my life are blaming my current read, The Whale Warriors by Peter Heller.  They would be mostly right, this book is definitely teaching me and influencing me in ways that have been dormant for years.

See, I have been passionate about sustainable fishing practices for years, but as anyone who lives this way, it can be a difficult process.  It takes a lot of dedication to know which fish are on the safe list, which ones need to be avoided, and where these fish are from.  Luckily, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has put out a helpful Seafood Watch list.  At one point, I had this list on my pescatarian mother's fridge, but now the Monterey Bay has taken it one step further in making it easy for us to be environmentally responsible by creating a Seafood Watch iPhone App.  This app is super user friendly, and while my seafood shopping is now going to take me twice as long (checking labels for where it was caught, if it's farmed, etc.)  I feel as though I will leave with a greater sense of satisfaction from my choices.

This unfortunately leads me to another question: why are sustainable fishing practices so difficult?  Some resources are predicting that it will be virtually impossible to find fish for food sources by 2020.  That's only 10 years, and if I believed in having children then I would definitely be worried about their future as well as my own.  The more I learn about fishing practices the more I have begun to convince myself that while I am not ready to fully give up fish right now, I am going to make a strong effort to eat not only sustainably, but locally as well.  While this means that I may not have access to Alaskan Wild Caught Salmon, and that I can no longer eat most Tilapias, it does not mean that all hope is lost for my love of fish.

After all, I still have access to all sorts of yummy bivalves, and we all know how much I love those....