Author Archives: ddishman

About ddishman

A conservation biologist with experience in population genetics and international wildlife conservation, my passion is conducting conservation research in the parts of the world that need it most, and educating communities about what they can do to protect wildlife!

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is Cooking for Solutions

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As we rev up our PDXSeafood campaign one of our primary supporters, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program, has been busy cooking up some sustainable seafood support down in California! Their annual event, Cooking for Solutions, is a 3-day celebration of sustainable seafood where celebrity chefs prepare food and host events at the aquarium to highlight just how delicious and amazing sustainable seafood can be.

Image courtesy of Seafood Watch

Image courtesy of Seafood Watch

Celebrity Chef Sam Choy at Cooking for Solutions 2013 (Image courtesy of Seafood Watch)

Such a great event! And it is only a small part of what Seafood Watch does to promote sustainable seafood. We are so lucky to be one of their Conservation Outreach Partners, and to be able to use all of the solid research they have done developing their seafood guides in our PDXSeafood program. Want to make sustainable seafood part of your routine? Visit their Seafood Recommendations page to look up your favorite fish, download your own pocket guide, or get the smartphone app. So many ways to be a savvy seafood consumer!

Oregon schools serving sustainable seafood!

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Who wants lunch?

Image courtesy of OPB's Ecotrope blog

Image courtesy of OPB’s Ecotrope blog

If you’ve been following us here at PDXWildlife you know we’re big fans of sustainable seafood. And so is our home state!  As a result of grants from the Farm to School and School Garden bill, schools in Bend, Oregon have implemented a “Boat to School” program to bring local seafood into school lunches. This is a temporary program which wraps up this month (although there is a bill in the legislature this session to expand Farm to School programs), and will culminate with an educational event where fishermen speak to students about their fishing practices. What a great fusion of health and education!

And it looks like the trend is catching on – Centennial school district in east Portland has also started incorporating local seafood into their menu. Let’s hope programs like this take off all over our area!

For the full scoop on the Boat to School program see the full article on OPBs Ecotrope blog.

For more on our sustainable seafood activities, check out our PDXSeafood program page here.

 

 

 

Southern Ocean food webs at risk

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Antarctic crabeater seals, which feed on krill. Photo courtesy of www.NewScientist.com

The Environmental News Network recently reported the findings from a comprehensive study of the complex food networks of the Southern Ocean. The result? Food webs in this highly productive ocean area are being impacted by climate change and greenhouse gasses.

One of their specific findings was that big areas in the Southern Ocean are absorbing large amounts of CO2, which in turn makes waters more acidic. This increased acidity “makes it more difficult for animals that create their own shells and some algae to gather carbonate ions from the seawater”, making it harder for them to survive. Such primary producers and invertebrates are key components of many food webs, and therefore as they decline so too may the larger invertebrates, fish, and even marine mammals that rely on them.

You can read more in the full Environmental News Network article, here.

In our efforts to continue conserving endangered marine species and the habitats upon which they rely, PDXWildlife plans to conduct research and outreach projects addressing how human consumption of fragile fish stocks affects the stability and productivity of marine food webs and ecosystems. Keep checking back with us for more information!