My (bad) eating habits.... (For Nicole)

I do. I eat it all! However, I am so shame filled because the more I learn about the food industry and how it damages the world, the closer I am becoming to making a big change.

It's very possible I will very soon quit eating any meat that isn't, at least, organic and free range, and preferably local- which should be easy down here because there are lots of ranches in south Texas. I know what the mass production of cattle does to the earth- bad things, if you were wondering! Very bad- produces tons of methane and requires more corn than you can imagine! Hunger could be pretty much eliminated if the land used for corn to feed beef was used in production of a crop to feed the hungry. Not to mention the animal themselves conditions...

But, I digress. Yes, I shamefully eat it all- I even love canned tuna, the worst of the bunch in my opinion.

However, the more my research and my general interest dives me into where our food comes from and what it damages- the less I can imagine supporting these industries financially. I honestly became interested in working with fish because I thought, "If I work in fisheries, I can eat tuna steaks guilt free."

Sadly, quite the opposite is occurring- the guilt grows and I am at the point where deliciousness seems to mean little in the face of extinction. I am at the point where I know too much to act like it's alright because it's not. The way our food is produced/caught is deplorable, and I find myself wanting to support these areas of extreme wrong doing less and less.

Conflict being- I am poor and organic/free range is expensive. I also love steaks and tuna, but when it gets down to morals as it now has... I find myself with the only option left being to stop consuming the products which offend so greatly.

I would be very interested to hear what you have to say on this subject, but I think it truly is a good idea to try not and support industries which are degrading our planet and I think I will be increasing the efforts on my part to abstain.

(Once I eat what's in my fridge- waste not want not!)

What am I doing? Why? And a mini rant on fish (For Cass)

I am doing a thesis-like research project as a stipulation of a scholarship I receive. I will complete it in the Spring of 2010, when I am about to graduate. The goal of the program is to make me competitive for graduate school.

My research is motivated by my belief that the toll of commercial fishing, if it continues on its current path, will in our lifetimes, essentially render the ocean a fish-less bacteria filled wasteland of jellyfish. I want to try and help stop this from happening! I love the ocean and I love fish and I want to know that I contributed all that I could to solving this issue.

Currently, many estimates show 90% of the world's fish stocks to be depleted- and these don't come back over night. Some higher level species like tuna can live up to thirty years and because these fish are caught in such high numbers, the stocks are never given time to be replenished. I am sure everyone can imagine when any one thing is removed from an ecosystem it can have severe consequences. Now imagine removing thousands of species... bad news for everything on the planet.

It is almost impossible to regulate commercial fishing. Asian countries have a great appetite for fish and their fishing industry has shown little consideration for the future. How do you regulate what goes on in the vast expanse of international waters?

To me it would seem that killing the market for illegal fish and more strict regulations of species that are listed as being depleted would be a start, but who gets to make the rules and how would you enforce them? Large bluefin tuna are increasingly rare and can fetch up to $40,000 a fish in Asian markets. Not to say Asia is the only place at fault, as a planet we are decimating fish populations everywhere.

At the end of her book, Sea Change, an idol of mine, Sylvia Earle, compared commercial fishing with the fable about the goose that laid a golden egg every day. The farmer who owned the goose got greedy and decided to cut open the goose to get all its treasure at once and thus ended up with nothing but a useless dead goose and blood on his hands.

I work in a fisheries lab at TAMU-CC where we mostly study populations of fish that live in areas near the coast; such as redfish or flounder. These are important for local fishermen and tourism.

My specific project is assessing whether oyster reefs should qualify as protected habitat under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (1996) which protects essential fish habitat or "those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity".

It's important to protect areas where the baby fish live because without these areas, the fish populations cannot thrive- which is what I want to happen because I love to eat fish!

:)

Inspiring insight!

- not from me, of course!

From National Geographic Adventure June/July 2008 issue:

"When we arrive here on Earth, we are naked, helpless, and ignorant. We are in a savage state, so to speak. As children we are brilliant generalists, curious about everything, voracious learning machines. But most of us gradually fall into a vacation state of mind and become specialists in our narrow little preserves, focused only on the minutiae of our own lives- the big project at work, the newest cell phone, that upcoming backpacking trip. We stop learning broadly and deeply, and then when something unexpected happens, we don't know what to do. We don't have the resources. We weren't paying attention to new information from our environment. I think we can do better."

-Lawrence Gonzales

Haircut-

I don't do this very often. Actually hadn't had a person cut my hair in about two years.... A little overdue!

So here's the before and after shots- not that dramatic or exciting, but it feels good anyway!





Hooray for new haircuts and new starts as well! Onward to the fuschia future!

*Sigh*

I need a break. I need less to do. I need to log about one thousand hours in the gym to burn off the stress compiling inside of me (not to mention the Chinese food I had for dinner!).

*sigh*

I need to enter in eleven more pages of data into Excel tonight before bed. I need to create a fifteen minute powerpoint presentation to give to my scholarship committee. I need to mow my lawn before my landlord evicts me- with my weed whacker because I haven't bought a lawnmower yet! I need to complain for a minute and move on...

*sigh*

Time to whine, "I just wanna go surfing tomorrow before the waves are all gone again!"

*sigh*

Back to data. Hit the gym manana. Try not to think about the other things which are bothering me, too much....

Know that next weekend, I will go surfing. Know that there are certainly things which could cheer me up soon. Know that everyday will not always be so vanilla - just today. Know fuchsia days are surely ahead, surely.

*happier sigh*

:)

data calls and I answer...

And so it goes.

Nothing like a looming project of great importance to lead me back to my blog.

The project: a fifteen minute power point presentation about my research on oyster reefs as fish habitat.

The presentation: ten days from now.

I am so.... not ready! It's a friendly audience though, so I think all will turn out in the end.

Summer continues to fly by at breakneck speed. To break up the already hectic schedule I am keeping, mother nature is throwing a nice whopper of a surprise for me this Wednesday- tropical storm Dolly? hurricane Dolly? just good surfing conditions? Hmmm.. time will tell I suppose. At least one thing is sure, I need some rum to whip up a batch of hurricanes for waiting the storm out! ;)

Can't seem to get started on my power point- so far I have a title and a blank second slide and that's it! Must share with people all I know about the usage of intertidal oyster reefs as habitat by nekton in estuarine ecosystems- very important....... oh crap, did you fall asleep too? ;) Ha ha- just kidding! Of course, I love my research, I am just being lazy...

Back to work!

Nonsensical Musings...

This Summer has been quite lovely thus far, but incredibly busy. I find myself actually beginning to look forward to classes resuming in the Fall and my schedule getting more... well not normal, but more like what I have gotten used to!

There are ten interns who are here for the summer in a program similar to my scholarship and they are super wonderful and have made everything such a joy! I will miss my new friends and all their silliness. See below for an example:











I also just finished moving into new house with a roommate who is also named Rachel- which is kinda weird because my last roommate was also named... Rachel. Well, guess that's how I like it!

My little sister has spent the last week visiting me and left me a bit brain dead.

My $50 craigslist treasure of a fridge just started making noises like it wants to die!

And now- I have finished my merlot- brush the teeth and sleep!
:)
Lovin' the Universe!