Monthly Archives: January 2008

Celebrity Chefs Join Greenpeace Campaign to Support only Sustainable Seafood

Celebrity Chefs Join Greenpeace Campaign to Support only Sustainable Seafood

From Ecorazzi:

Top chefs Raymond Blanc and Tom Aikens will join forces with Greenpeace to urge the culinary world to support only sustainable seafood. The campaign begins tomorrow night at Old Billingsgate Fish Market in London, where celebrity chefs and food writers such as: Antonio Carluccio, Brian Turner and Rose Gray, will sign a pledge to stop using or promoting unsustainable fish species and to support the creation of marine reserves to help fish stocks recover. Along with the previously reported celebs, Michelin-starred chefs, Heston Blumenthal and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have also jumped on the boat.

I really enjoy all the reality cooking shows: Top Chef, Next Food Network Star, etc. but every time there’s “Chilean sea bass” on the menu, I cringe. “Noooooo! Not the patagonian toothfish!” I whine. Hopefully this will turn the tides in the seas of the foodies. No more will ocean plundering proclamations cast chefs as culinary geniuses. Rather they’ll sound like uninformed poachers sieving the seas.

Kudos to these celeb chefs!

Huge Collapse of Central Valley Chinook Salmon Populations

Huge Collapse of Central Valley Chinook Salmon Populations

The number of chinook salmon returning to California’s Central Valley has reached a near-record low, pointing to an “unprecedented collapse” that could lead to severe restrictions on West Coast salmon fishing this year, according to federal fishery regulators.

The population dropped more than 88 percent from its all-time high five years ago, according to an internal memo sent to members of the Pacific Fishery Management Council and obtained by The Associated Press.

Only about 90,000 returning adult salmon were counted in the Central Valley in 2007, the second lowest number on record, the memo said. The population was at 277,000 in 2006 and 804,000 five years ago.

Researchers are not certain why the population is collapsing, but factors such as climate change effects on ocean food sources, management of California’s Bay-Delta ecosystem, and hydromodification of critical habitat all are likely to play a role.

from SF Chronicle
image: USFWS

Leatherback Tracked on 12,744 Mile Migration

Leatherback Tracked on 12,744 Mile Migration

A single leatherback turtleback has been tracked by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on it’s 12,774 mile migratory journey. NMFS scientists tracked one female nester, who was tagged on Jamursba-Medi beach in Papua, Indonesia, on her 647 day journey back to her foraging grounds off the coast of Oregon. This is the longest documented migration of any marine vertebrate.

The leatherback tracked by NMFS belongs to one of two distinct breeding populations in the Pacific, the western group. Other research has shown that nesters from this population migrate through areas in the Philippines, South China Sea, Japan, and the waters around many other countries, spurring conservationists to call for an international effort to protect the species, which is listed as Critically Endangered on the World Conservation Union’s Red List.

The turtle’s journey is featured in an article in the third annual volume of the State of the Worlds’ Turtles Report, written by NMFS scientists Peter Dutton and Scott Benson and Creusa Hitipeuw of WWF-Indonesia.

source: MSNBC
image source: US Embassy in Jakarta

I made a Raggedy Ann Doll!

I made a Raggedy Ann Doll!

I made this doll this weekend. I rather like her, especially her raspberry sherbet red ‘fro. This kind of craft is perfect for me. She is a “primitive doll”. I take primitive to mean that I can be less than meticulous in the stitching; she is supposed to look handmade. I’m kind of a sloppy sewer; Nina would not approve of my construction.

The project started out fine, just cutting out the pattern and the cloth pieces. Simple. Then I got in a great big fight with my sewing machine. I’ve only used the thing maybe 2 or 3 times in the past 6 years. Turns out that I just had to (1) thread the bobbin right, which would (2) be accomplished by tightening the bobbin tension, which would (3) be accomplished by placing a screwdriver through the divet opening in the front of the machine. I have mad respect for sweat shop workers.

After that it was easy going. Sew, stuff. Then the fun of sewing on the features with embroidery floss, painting her eyes. The most fun, by far, was putting on her hair. This one is for Cassidy’s 1st birthday. Next I’ll be making one for Ella’s 4th bday. And then one for myself. :-)

Pattern by Bowls-n-Annies

Research Ship Sets Sail to Study Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch

Research Ship Sets Sail to Study Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch

photo by Alguita ORVRemember the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch? This week the Oceanographic Research Vessel Alguita (a relatively tiny boat compared to your standard marine research vessel) has set off on a month long research expedition to study marine debris concentrations in our precious Pacific. The crew is charting their course (ha!) on their blog.

Their research is partially aimed at exploring the Debris Estimated Likelihood Index, a concept said to predict where large debris accumulation occurs, including possible seasonal distribution of major debris concentrations. Their planned sampling points include waters previously unsampled for plastic debris, including waters further west than previously sampled.

h/t Oyster’s Garter via Deep Sea News.
image credit: ORV Alguita