http://www.theawl.com/ Be Less Stupid Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:33:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-49987 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-49987#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:33:37 +0000 jmcc http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-49987 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-49987/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-48024 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-48024#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:13:46 +0000 valet of the dolls http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-48024 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-48024/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47891 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47891#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:46:48 +0000 brilliantmistake http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47891 Friends of the Sea. While there are problems with their certification process, you’d think he’d bring this up. 2. Menhaden aren’t considered even close to over-fished by NMFS. Both catches and effort (how hard you try to catch fish) have been going down overall since the 1980s. Again, you can argue with the data, but he doesn’t even bring it up. 3. Thirteen of fifteen Atlantic states haven’t “banned Omega Protein’s boats from their waters.” They’ve banned purse seining. The op-ed gives the impression Omega Protein is specifically targeted when it’s a general prohibition on the gear. 4. He also writes that declines in menhaden populations are directly responsible for muddy water and dead zones. This isn’t true. Loss of filter feeders are part of the problem, including loss of other filter feeders like oysters and herring. The largest part of the problem lies with increased pollution, especially from fertilizers and sewage. 5. I’d have to check some numbers, but I doubt menhaden are the major fish species used in Omega-3 supplements or even fish oil. He uses the wiggle-words “considerable portion.” By far, the largest producer of fish oil is Peru from their anchovetta industry. They catch about 25 times as much fish as the menhaden industry for fish oil production. Sorry for the situational Aspergers, this is part of what I do for a living. I’m not an expert on menhaden, so it’s possible I’m missing info Greenberg knows about, but this whole article struck as full of overstatements, straw men and unaddressed points, which takes away credibility from others working on sustainable fisheries.]]> Friends of the Sea. While there are problems with their certification process, you’d think he’d bring this up. 2. Menhaden aren’t considered even close to over-fished by NMFS. Both catches and effort (how hard you try to catch fish) have been going down overall since the 1980s. Again, you can argue with the data, but he doesn’t even bring it up. 3. Thirteen of fifteen Atlantic states haven’t “banned Omega Protein’s boats from their waters.” They’ve banned purse seining. The op-ed gives the impression Omega Protein is specifically targeted when it’s a general prohibition on the gear. 4. He also writes that declines in menhaden populations are directly responsible for muddy water and dead zones. This isn’t true. Loss of filter feeders are part of the problem, including loss of other filter feeders like oysters and herring. The largest part of the problem lies with increased pollution, especially from fertilizers and sewage. 5. I’d have to check some numbers, but I doubt menhaden are the major fish species used in Omega-3 supplements or even fish oil. He uses the wiggle-words “considerable portion.” By far, the largest producer of fish oil is Peru from their anchovetta industry. They catch about 25 times as much fish as the menhaden industry for fish oil production. Sorry for the situational Aspergers, this is part of what I do for a living. I’m not an expert on menhaden, so it’s possible I’m missing info Greenberg knows about, but this whole article struck as full of overstatements, straw men and unaddressed points, which takes away credibility from others working on sustainable fisheries.]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47891/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47756 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47756#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:21:14 +0000 myfanwy http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47756 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47756/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47743 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47743#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:09:25 +0000 HiredGoons http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47743 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47743/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47728 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47728#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:58:59 +0000 formerly it takes a lot etc. http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47728 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47728/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47703 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47703#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:38:47 +0000 HiredGoons http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47703 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47703/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47702 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47702#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:36:51 +0000 sunnyciegos http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47702 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47702/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47685 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47685#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:50:14 +0000 KarenUhOh http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47685 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47685/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47683 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47683#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:44:22 +0000 mathnet http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47683 http://www.theawl.com/2009/12/21854#comment-47683/feed 0