Dredging

Catching fish in mass quantities is important to fisherman when fishing the ocean. One prevelant fishing technique used to catch many fish is called dredging. Dredging consists of dragging a large metal crate along the bottom of the seafloor to catch bottom-dwelling shellfish, this destroys all life on the bottom of the ocean. Monterey Bay Aquarium says, "Once the living seafloor is damaged, it can take centuries to grow back. Near Australia, bottom trawlers have pulled up and destroyed six-foot-tall gorgonians (coldwater coral) that were at least 700 years old. And with trawl fleets fishing all over the world, the seafloor in popular spots never gets a chance to recover. Parts of the North Sea off Denmark are trawled up to 400 times a year." There are many fish that rely on the seafloor to live. Monterey Bay says people should favor fishing practices that spare the seafloor. To find out more visit, www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_hd.aspx

Seafood Watch on your iPhone

Moterey Bay Aquarium has seafood watch has pocket pamphlets which can be sent to you by request so you know which seafood is best to order. Monterey Bay Aquarium recently released a new iPhone application. Monterey Bay said "Our new iPhone application brings the latest Seafood Watch recommendations directly to your iPhone or iPod touch. Now you can make sustainable seafood choices quickly and easily—whether you’re eating at your favorite restaurant or shopping for dinner. And at a time when the world’s oceans are severely overfished, your seafood choices make a big difference."

Features

• Free, up-to-date recommendations at your fingertips
• Sushi guide lists fish by Japanese name as well as common market name
• Regional guides highlight the seafood that’s best in each area of the country

For more information see http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_iPhone.aspx

Type Two Diabetes

Larry H. Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz, has been covered frequently by papers regarding type two diabetes. This is a sickness that is becoming a problem in America.

During a presentation at USU last semester, Caroline Shugart USU Employee Wellness Coordinator said, type two diabetes, which is completely preventable, is becoming more prevalent in society. Shugart said with meal portion size increasing and an engineered environment which helps Americans become less active, it is estimated the US will spend $225 billion annually for poor health care, which could be prevented through dieting and exercise.

Shugart a Registered Dietician said, Americans look back at smoking ads and laugh because the ads are so ridiculous, portraying Americans smoking as if it’s healthy, but the same thing is happening with commercials about soda and fast food.

“Soda has 15 teaspoons of sugar and 250 calories in a 20 ounce bottle,” Shugart said, “Why have so much crap in drinks and why market it to kids, I think it’s unethical.”

If a person stops drinking one soda a day, Shugart said over the course of one year 91,250 calories and 50 pounds of sugar would no longer be taken into the body,

“That is 26 pounds of fat that could be lost in a year.” She said

Shugart also said, “More than 33 percent of children born after 2000 will develop diabetes.”

Perhaps we should look to start fixing this problem.

No-Step

While ladder injuries are prevalent during construction and household chores many precautions have been implemented to prevent these injuries, one recent development in ladder safety is the patent pending No-Step.

Larry Allred Sr. and Larry Allred Jr. the creators of no-step said “no-step was created to reduce ladder injuries and bring about a safer work environment for people working on ladders.”

Allred Jr. said among the list of safety precautions used to prevent accidents is the suggestion that no individual uses the top step of the ladder while working. He said the warning signs are easy to ignore and many people use this top step anyway because the sign doesn’t stop them, becomes faded from sunlight or is scratched off.

“No-step stops people from using the top steps of ladders all together,” Allred Jr. said.

He said it snaps into place and stays securely in the top step preventing anyone from stepping further up the ladder than they should, in this way there is a lower possibility that people will fall because balance won’t be lost and ladders won’t teeter back and forth because people are standing to high on them.

Allred Jr.said, “I am hoping that OSHA will recognize that their labeling is being over looked with ladder safety. This is one more simple precaution that can save lives and prevent injuries and will be much more effective than warning stickers.”

The Safe Ladder Management report stated, “OSHA concluded that 100% of ladder accidents might be eliminated with proper attention to the application of equipment, and the proper training of climbers. Human failure causes most ladder falls, but the preventable error is often administrative; not the fault of the victim.”

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission report more than 532,000 people were injured in falls from ladders in 2007.

To see where the statistics came from see the following Websites.

http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/humanservicesnews/oct06/ladder.htm

http://www6.aaos.org/news/Pemr/releases/release.cfm?releasenum=712

http://www.safety-engineer.com/ladder.htm

Orange Roughy

Many fish population are dwindling into non-existence because of habitat fragmentation and overexploitation. Orange Roughy is a fish found on seafood menus across the US and as the world continues to overfish orange roughy the oceans habitat is damaged and orange roughys fish population dwindle.

The Seafood Watch Program has been put in place to prevent further damage and extinction of our once great fish populations. Consumers vote on the fish they want to eat with their mouths. If a fish is in high demand, it is caught at high levels. Because orange roughy has been in high demand its being overfished. Monterey Bay Aquarium reports, “Unfortunately, years of heavy fishing have decimated orange roughy populations. Although fishery management plans are now in place, it’ll take decades for this slow-growing fish to recover.”

To find out more about the Seafood Watch Program visit http://www.mbayaq.org/To see Monterey Bay Aquariums full report on orange roughy visit http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_OrangeRoughyReport.pdf

Importing Seafood.

The New York Times article China Vows Food-Safety Changes, addresses the concerns the Food and Drug Administration have with imported seafood. Some Americans may be unaware of the health concerns the F.D.A. has with imported seafood. This article states that, "Chinese goods make up about 22 percent of United States seafood imports. But they accounted for about 63 percent of the shipments that were refused by the F.D.A. last year for having animal drug residues." Imported seafood complications are nothing new to the F.D.A. but, Americans can do more to get more education on Seafood. Where and how is it fished of farmed? All of these things play a major role in the oceans health and individual Americans health as well.

Seafood Watch

Seafood Watch is a program put forth by Monterey Bay Aquarium. Seafood Watch educates individuals about the ongoing issues the world faces with seafood. Each year millions of fish are caught and killed to sustain an ever growing world population with a growing love for seafood. Monterey Bay Aquarium estimates that nearly 1.4 million sharks are killed each year, discarded as pure waist because they are labeled as bycatch, which is the catching of marine animals unintentionally.

Many fish are not only labeled as bycatch, but are caught in ways that hurt fish populations and the ecosystems of the oceans. A popular, common fishing practice known as dredging (dragging a large metal crate along the bottom of the seafloor to catch bottom-dwelling shellfish) destroys all life on the bottom of the ocean.

Also, many larger fish have been proven to have high levels of mercury, a toxic metal that exists naturally in the environment. Never breaking down with time, mercury enters our rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans. Mercury levels within larger fish are so high that the Environmental Defense recommends that men only eat one serving a month. Women, especially if pregnant, and children should not partake of these fish at all.

Monterey Bay Aquarium states, "Bacteria can then convert [mercury] to an organic form called methylmercury -- the form that is dangerous to people. Although mercury levels are almost always low in water bodies, methylmercury biomagnifies up the food chain.” For this reason, larger predator fish like swordfish and shark have high mercury levels. According to the EPA, “Mercury concentrations in fish can be 1 to 10 million times the mercury concentration in the water.”

If interested in knowing more or getting involved with Sea Food Watch, follow these steps.

1. Go to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Web site, http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp. All the information from this article and more is located at this site.

2. Through Monterey Bay Aquarium, get a free pocket guide about which seafood is caught or farmed in environmentally responsible ways and which is safe for consumption. Individuals may use these guides when ordering seafood.

3. Individuals may sign up to be a seafood advocate through the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Web site and receive the Aquarium’s packet of information regarding seafood, the environment and your health.

4. Individuals can let restaurants and grocery stores know what they think about the seafood they offer. Remember that restaurants and grocery stores order what the consumer wants. The consumers can help guide restaurants and grocery stores seafood choices.