Yes, I did previously promise not to post any more, but today I came across something quite infuriating:
Singapore Restaurant serves another Giant Endangered Grouper
(Go watch the video, otherwise you won't know what I'm talking about.)
Putting the merciless dismemberment of the animal aside, I'd like to focus on what Fish Breeder Wei Han Hsin says (skip to 4:02). He speaks in Mandarin, so here's a translation:
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Reporter: "But what does first and only Queensland Grouper breeder, Taiwanese Chef Wei Han Hsin, have to say to those who are against eating this underwater gladiator, which has been listed an endangered species?"
Chef: "The Grouper originates from the Pacific Ocean... the seas around Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Actually, this fish cannot be caught around Taiwan. But the Taiwanese have caught these fish and brought them back to Taiwan, and they are bred there. They can be produced at a commercial scale, so don't worry that we won't have enough of this fish to eat. These fish are still present in the sea. They will not go extinct."
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Seriously, does he actually understand the issue here? Well...
1) "so don't worry that we will not have enough of this fish to eat"
It's only natural that a chef would view a fish as food. Duh, it's their perspective. And I'm not saying we shouldn't view fish as food—c'mon, it's not like I can't recognise that seafood is important to many people, yourself included perhaps. There's absolutely nothing wrong with liking seafood.
The issue lies with our approach towards seafood. The chef here is concerned with whether we will have enough of the Queensland Grouper to eat. It's absolutely the same thing with shark fins—of course there are enough sharks for us to slash their fins off and hurl them back to their bloody, watery deaths, to supply Chinese restaurants and wedding dinners... but that doesn't mean we can be allowed go on killing.
To simply view nature and biota as Man's commodities is not only perverted, it's selfish... it is to take from our environment, not give back... and in the process even destroy our earth.
We cannot do this. I hope this has indeed been food for thought; next time you're biting into a tuna sandwich, please remember the Bluefin Tuna is critically endangered.
(I like tuna, by the way, but I do not eat it. Not any more.)
2) "They will not go extinct."
Yes, chef, you're right... when you say that the Groupers are still present in the sea. However, to assume they will not go extinct... is ignorance.
For the record, the Queensland Grouper is classified by as vulnerable by the IUCN. That's threatened status, guys.
Threatened by what, you may ask. Just take a look at what Mr Johnny Tan's 2nd Kitchen has done—last month, it brought in a 150kg (2 metres long) adult caught off the waters around Sabah, and even more recently, a 220kg adult. Nothing is known about the migration and spawning of this species, and sexual maturity is only reached when the fish is 105-110cm long. That means we can't even begin to be sure that we're letting the Groupers replenish their population fast enough to replace whatever is being killed by fishermen. That also means that the fish are commonly caught and eaten before they've even had a chance to reproduce.
Even the lucky few who make it to sexual maturity may find their reproduction cut off by restaurants who claim that "the larger the fish, the nicer it is to eat". I'm quoting Johnny Tan here, mind you.
To just assume part of the Amazon Basin will always be left behind is unacceptable. To just assume the poles will never melt is unacceptable. To naïvely assume the Grouper will never go extinct is unacceptable! I'm not promoting pessimism here... But to make such optimistic assumptions without effecting any action towards their realisations is unacceptable. To sit back in the board room and sweep these real issues under the carpet is to put our very own planet in hot water... even literally.
Thank goodness some people do try to effect action... I hope you'll be one of them.
