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The main argument in favour of pisciculture is that the current rate of trawler fishing is expansionist while edible fish stocks in the oceans, are, well, diminishing.
Pisciculture may not have to be a permanent feature, but could be construed as a temporary measure, alongside a moratorium on massive fishing that could be implemented to give the ocean some time to replenish itself, after which better fishing regulations could be implemented.
This is just off the top of my head, I will have to write a diary on this after studying this issue some more. Maybe I'll end up with the conclusion that eating fish is evil too, though for now the issue about whether fish actually feel pain or not has not yet been unambiguously resolved.
Susan Lark, M.D. writes the following:
I recently made a disturbing discovery about farm-raised salmon, which is the kind you find at most grocery stores and restaurants. We've all heard that salmon is one of nature's super foods. It's full of wonderful omega-3 fatty acids that keep our hearts, brains, joints, and skin supple and youthful. I eat salmon at least twice a week--my personal favorite is wild-caught sockeye salmon from Alaska. But almost all of the salmon sold today is farm-raised. Farm-raised salmon contains about the same amount of omega-3 fats as wild-caught salmon. But it also contains extremely high levels of a highly inflammatory compound called arachidonic acid. In fact, the inflammatory effect of the arachidonic acid in farm-raised salmon more than cancels out the anti-inflammatory benefits of the omega-3 fats it contains. That's right: Unless you are eating wild-caught salmon, you are better off not eating salmon at all.
But almost all of the salmon sold today is farm-raised. Farm-raised salmon contains about the same amount of omega-3 fats as wild-caught salmon. But it also contains extremely high levels of a highly inflammatory compound called arachidonic acid. In fact, the inflammatory effect of the arachidonic acid in farm-raised salmon more than cancels out the anti-inflammatory benefits of the omega-3 fats it contains. That's right: Unless you are eating wild-caught salmon, you are better off not eating salmon at all.
I don't know how reliable this source is, the information was send to me in a e-mail a friend.
I think fish farming has lots of problems, and I'll be happy to read on this topic and write a diary soon enough.
my intuition (as a vegan yet!), is that aquaculture will play a big part in feeding an 'overpopulated' planet, as the fish-shitty water is of value to plants, and can fit into a planned eco-setup, such as people try to do in 'arks', biosphere experiments etc.
i use inverted commas around 'overpopulated' because especially after reading this, i am reminded that the earth can support many souls, if, as alex mentioned, we redirect the fruits of the land more to humans, without wastefully putting them through livestock first.
i don't think veganism is for everyone, but the chinese model, where a few thin slices of meat are found in a tumble of other veggie ingredients, often high-protein such as mung sprouts, will probably even out as sustainable, once we in the west downscale our excessive, cancerous habits, more to the ratios employed by our great-grandparents generation. tthe chinese do have a lot of experience feeding huge numbers of people, (and starving a lot too).
interesting comment about veganism and insomnia.
i had noticed a correlation, but tended to ascribe it to less energy needed for digestion, therefore more available for wakefulness, and linked to the claims of many who practice yoga for need of much less sleep to refresh the cells.
perhaps a lot of sleep in the torpor created by fatty, rich, uric acid-inducing, over-sugared. alcohol-laced meals which require more downtime for the body to repair equilibrium.
till my early 20's raised on meat, fish, eggs, and/or dairy at every meal, i was sick a lot of the time, fatigued easily, and took a long time to wake up in the morning, with terrible clogged sinuses needing hospitalisation once, very painful and traumatic.
i wake up alert and very quickly now, and while i still love to sleep- the best natural high of all!- i am amazed how my energy runs on and on now, stamina wise, especially on the mental plane.
having eschewed formal education at the tender age of 18, the internet and late night bbc prime are manna to this self-educating polymath.
blogs like this are beyond my powers to describe in their usefulness to a lonely intellectual, addicted to living in the deep country, though i am born a child of london, in the coke-smoked peasoup winscale'd 50's, so perhaps the rest of my life i will be paying for that by breathing cleaner air.
cities stress me heavily, 3-4 days tops and i'm gone like a cool breeze, and even when i'm there, i'm always scanning for a green hideway, such as the very lovely cemetary at the bottom of fulham road, going to earl's court.
if the pollution weren't there, i might return, as getting 90% of one's cultural stimulation from the internet doesn't seem quite right, somehow.
jeez i'm rambling, sorry guys, this diary cuts deep and brings up a bunch of stuff for me.
so very stoked to read such a well-presented diary, and see how much attention it's getting.
there is NO more important issue/solution on the planet.
your bloodstream is a tiny river, what do you want to throw into it daily?
leave a bucket of veggies to putrefy, next to a similar one of animal products. visit after a few days of warm weather.
imagine your nose - perhaps your greatest discriminatory survival organ (no funny jokes here!), - INSIDE your body, instead of outside it.
nuff said 'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
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