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TODAY Wednesday 21 January 1998 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site.

 

TODAY IN THE WORLD: Swordfish

Left alone, the swordfish becomes a formidable creature. It can weigh up to 1200 pounds and live for 30 years. Until the 1960s, swordfish were killed by harpoon. The fishermen of that era reasonably aimed for the biggest of the fish. The result was that youngsters were spared, the reproductive capacity of the species was maintained, and populations were stable.

Enter technology, in the form of monofilament fishing lines. These extra-strong, extra-light lines, spun into lengths of a dozen miles, allow commercial ships called longliners to troll the ocean with hundreds of baited hooks, all floating at swordfish depth. The hooks snare swordfish (and sharks and sea turtles) of all ages. The result is that fish are caught before they can breed. Overall population plummets, as does the average size of a caught fish: from 250 pounds in the 1960s to 90 pounds today. Fishermen are obliged by federal regulations to release any fish under 44 pounds. Scientists say that figure is too low and that, besides, more undersize fish are killed on the hooks than are thrown back by scrupulous operators. No one disagrees that, in the North Atlantic, at least, swordfish are becoming fewer and smaller.

Twenty-nine percent of the North Atlantic catch comes from US waters, and American environmentalists have been trying for years to pressure the government to adopt a tough recovery plan. Pressed by an influential industry, US officials have passed the buck (not unreasonably) to international forums. The greens say that: 1) the US catch is significant; 2) the US sets the pace, and can wield strong pressure to achieve a meaningful world compact; and so 3) we need a recovery plan. If it doesn't work, we need another recovery plan.

And how to secure that plan? Deploy public opinion, through a campaign urging restaurants and consumers to swear off North Atlantic swordfish until the feds come around.

Yesterday was the launch of the campaign. Two of our favorite groups, SeaWeb and the Natural Resources Defense Council, took out a quarter page ad on The New York Times op-ed page. There was a cartoon swordfish leaping from the water, with a placard skewered on his bill reading "Try the Pasta!". Nice. The ad explained the problem and named a list of chefs at expensive restaurants who "ask you to give North Atlantic swordfish a break in 1998, the Year of the Ocean... Just don't eat swordfish from the North Atlantic. It's that simple."

Sign me up. I love to eat swordfish, but let's bring 'em back. And the campaign is doable: a simple straightforward consumer pressure tactic on a high-end item that almost nobody relies on nutritionally (although dieting will suffer). The chef angle does nothing for me, but if it works to sign on more restaurants and thereby inform the chattering classes, fine. My only personal hesitation is with the North Atlantic emphasis. Do the good people at SeaWeb and NRDC seriously expect me to ask the waiter if the swordfish in the Weekly Special comes from Western Hemisphere waters north of 5 degrees latitude? Maybe the distinction between swordfish caught in the North Atlantic and swordfish caught elsewhere is a distinction that the enviros have to make for political purposes, which is OK, but it's a non-starter when you're eating out. Maybe for a label in the refrigerator case of the supermarket ("Pacific Ocean Swordfish: OK to Eat. Really."), but I'm not even sure about that.

Quibble, quibble. Here's something small and helpful to do. Eat something else and tell your friends.

 

TODAY ON THE SITE

Harvey Black, last seen in these precincts writing about a novel approach to growing Wisconsin potatoes, now logs in with a summary of the problems besetting the Salton Sea, that accidental body of water in very-Southern California. What a weird place! In yesterday's Greenwire we learned that Speaker Gingrich was going to introduce special legislation to fund the what-to-do-next studies that Harvey describes in his article. The effort would be undertaken, he said, in memory of the late Sonny Bono. Am I getting old, or is that funny? Contest to follow.

 

Recent "Today" columns:

1/20: Electromagnetic Sleuthing
1/16: Good News Way Down Under
1/15: Twenty-Four Forty or Fight!
1/14: Your Tax Dollars at Work
1/13: Johnny Mobil Appleseed
1/12: Superbowl, Scientific Uncertainty, and the Future of Al Gore
1/9: Goodbye, Delaware
1/8: Leaf Blowers, Old Cars, Class Conflict
1/7: The Great Improvement That Didn't
1/6: Proactive, Shmoactive
1/5: Mediocre Landscapes and Hope for the Planet
1/2: The Greatest Environmental Cause of the Year
12/31/97: The Top Twelve Environment Stories of 1997

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