2023-08-10 23:05:00
“It is urgent to protect marine resources because we don’t know most organisms, something that can take thousands of years to do; we must preserve what we do not know to try to identify everything before it can become extinct. It is not an apocalyptic warning: it was the accredited voice of Jesus Arrietasenior scientist at the IEO-CSIC Canary Islands Oceanographic Center during the 2023 Meeting of the Seas Congress held in July.
After recording in marine environments of the Islands for the program Agrocanarias.TV (RTVC every Saturday at 2:00 p.m.) I have gone to the notebook of notes that I took in different locations in Tenerife where the aforementioned meeting took place, which, in its fifth edition, links scientific, gastronomic and sustainability aspects of our oceans. In the middle of August, nothing better than refreshing concepts that, first hand, were contributed by the most prestigious scientists, marine biologists and technicians invited by the organizers, Grupo Vocento and Cabildo de Tenerife.
All this flow of scientific studies also translates into economic value, “for this reason it is important to know who do they belong to those marine resources. Arrieta recalled in his speech that “the ownership of marine resources belongs to the country to which the exclusive economic zone from where they have been extracted belongs, but in international markets the regulation is very poor, which in practice means that 60% of the surface of the ocean is unregulated.”
At another time, a group of experts debated about the appropriate formulation of more sustainable fishing models to end the overexploitation of seas and oceans. Augustine Espinosaa marine biologist and technician from the Fisheries Unit of the Cabildo de Tenerife, recalled that the Corporation maintains a line of action with the fishermen’s guilds to open alternatives -and expectations- to complementary options such as fishing tourism.
“The use of adapted tourist boats that accompany the fishermen in some tasks could encourage knowledge of artisanal fisheries and, in this way, contribute to a greater animation in the consumption of the marine genre”, which in the Islands -we talk about fish fresh- falls compared to many of the average figures for Spain. The creation and maintenance of marine reserves It will also encourage the notion of a local product and through artisanal fishing (“not as a quality mark, but as a source”) the carbon footprint will be reduced.
Extinction is not a thing of fiction. Sonia Spanish Jimenezexecutive director of the Meri Foundation in Chile, estimated according to scientific research that “we are at a point of no return, since in the near future one in four species will become extinct if there are no radical changes in our way of life –’modern’, let’s say it that way-”.
Benjamin WoolGeneral Director of Vocento Gastronomía, considered that the Meeting of the Seas 23 reached “a level of conversation so high and so sincere -above environmental topics- that we are not afraid to deal with conflictive issues and synthesized in two terms, “empathy and regeneration”, the indispensable understanding between scientists, fishermen and cooks.
Strengthen ambition. In this sense, Carlos Duarte, marine biologist and scientific director of the congress, stressed “collaboration as the basis for building a desirable future”. Precisely, the environmental activist and underwater filmmaker Alexandra Cousteau made it clear that “since my grandfather began to explore the world’s oceans, we have lost up to 50% of the blue natural capital. What can it be translated into? The insistence to preserve and maintain has not served, it has not been assimilated. Or is it that humans have not been ambitious enough to put an end to attacks on the marine environment?
“We must turn the language around and talk about rebuilding, regenerating and reversing all the damage caused by years of insufficient protections”, commented Cousteau in his presentation.
The chef from Tenerife Juan Carlos Clemente He added, on the part of the kitchen and its relevance in sustainability, that “it is crucial to resort to all kinds of fish, including those with the lowest commercial margin and to value them.” “The key -he asserted- is to look at the product with respect”.
To end an eloquent piece of information to, at least, stop us to reflect: the World Wide Fund for Nature ensures that since 1950 we have extracted from the seas almost 6,000 million tons of fish and other invertebrates; this invites the fishing industry to focus the interaction with marine fauna in another way. Therefore, it is necessary to reconcile the fishing activity with the proper control of the catches to reach a balance that allows us to look at the future of humanity with hope.
From the professional kitchen and the rest of the agents of the food chain, it is necessary to continue betting on sustainability -as highlighted by Alexandra Cousteau-making responsible use of marine resources, in addition to fostering a passion for the consumption of fish”.
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