Saving Seafood

How Purchasing Local Fish Can Support Communities and the Economy

May 12, 2020 — The spread of the COVID-19 virus has caused uncertainty for global food supply chains. Poverty and food insecurity are on the rise as a result of the pandemic. Yet, for many, these crises predate the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Overwhelming evidence demonstrates the vulnerability of global food supply chains and long-distance transportation networks embedded in a “just enough, just in time” approach.

This recent instability will affect everyone, but the impact will be far more severe for Indigenous people, precarious and low-wage workers and people living in poverty, struggling to meet their basic needs. While we must develop ways to address the immediate concerns, enhancing the resilience of local food systems has taken on new urgency.

The structures that underpin the modern food system and the resulting food insecurity are evident in northwestern Ontario. Thunder Bay, the region’s largest city, serves as a hub for food, social services and other basic amenities for those living in surrounding communities, including dozens of First Nations.

The city is perched on the shores of Lake Superior, the world’s largest freshwater lake, which has more than 30 native species of fish and a long history of productive commercial and subsistence fisheries. Nevertheless, our research has shown that local fish is almost impossible to find on the shelves of regional grocery stores.

Read the full story at The National Interest

To Track Down Bloodsucking Lampreys, This Robot Swims Like a Fish

October 26th, 2016 — In the bestiary of bizarre ocean creatures, there are few animals stranger than the jawless, finless sea lamprey. These eel-like fish are parasites, latching on to larger fish and boring into their skin with a tooth-lined sucker to feed on the blood of their prey.

Sea lampreys are among an elite collection of anadromous fish—saltwater fish that spawn in freshwater—a trait they share with much more palatable species like salmon, striped bass, and sturgeon. As the Great Lakes became increasingly channelized in the mid-19th century to permit shipping from the Midwest to the Atlantic coast, sea lampreys, native to inland lakes in New York and Vermont, invaded. Over the next century, they would decimate native fish populations in Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior.

They are relentless invaders, and tracking their spread has proven to be an exercise in futility, at least for human observers. But a new robotic challenger has emerged.

GRACE (short for Gliding Robot Ace) is as unusual among underwater robots as sea lampreys are among freshwater fishes. Eschewing the conventional thrusters or ruddered propellers of most underwater robots, GRACE instead packs a powerful tail fin to propel it forward. This is supplemented by a glider system: By changing its buoyancy, GRACE can propel itself forward by ascending and descending through the water column. This is an exceptionally efficient configuration, giving GRACE an enviable multi-week endurance while patrolling for lampreys around Lake Michigan.

Read the full story at Vice