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By Patrick Moua“There’s been naslkoshi (genocide) here” -Iranian Fisher “Now, remember we’re dealing with a raw seafood endangered species, so it’s basically like eating and dealing with, you know edible elephant tusk.” - Deborah Keane, California Caviar Company owner and founder After reading the above quote by owner and founder of the California Caviar Company, I wondered, How can one eat another non-human animal knowing they are on the brink of extinction? Because that is what we are doing when we eat caviar. Sturgeons are one of over 150,300 species now on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red list because humans have proclaimed their roe (fish eggs) as a “luxurious” treat, and they continue to kill and mistreat these fish for this “delicacy.” Sturgeons are classified in the Acipenseridae genus family. They are a species of fish that primarily live in fresh water and can grow up to 7-12 feet and weigh about an average of 48 pounds. They once dominated the northern hemisphere and were so populated their roe would wash over the shores of beaches and lakes. According to Insider Tech, the sturgeon’s roe used to be so plentiful in the 19th century they would even be provided as a free snack by saloons. Sturgeons, specifically the beluga sturgeons, are the biggest freshwater fish in the world. For example, “The largest Beluga ever caught weighed 1,571 kg (about 3463.46 lb.) and was 7.2 m long”. That is about half the size of an elephant. Beluga sturgeons are larger than other species of sturgeons, and because of that humans have marked the beluga sturgeons as the most valuable. Their large size means they have roe comparably larger to other sturgeon species roe and that is what makes them so valuable because of this they have been inhumanely farmed and poached.
The dramatic increase of caviar production demonstrates how many Sturgeons are being farmed. To harvest the female sturgeon’s roe, they are slit open which kills the sturgeon. Then, the roe is extracted to be cleaned, salted, and packaged in a tin to become caviar. Although there are better ways to farm sturgeon eggs, most sturgeon farms find the slit process “more efficient.” After reading the above quote by owner and founder of the California Caviar Company, I wondered, How can one eat another non-human animal knowing they are on the brink of extinction? Because that is what we are doing when we eat caviar. Sturgeons are one of over 150,300 species now on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red list because humans have proclaimed their roe (fish eggs) as a “luxurious” treat, and they continue to kill and mistreat these fish for this “delicacy.” Sturgeons are classified in the Acipenseridae genus family. They are a species of fish that primarily live in fresh water and can grow up to 7-12 feet and weigh about an average of 48 pounds. They once dominated the northern hemisphere and were so populated their roe would wash over the shores of beaches and lakes. According to Insider Tech, the sturgeon’s roe used to be so plentiful in the 19th century they would even be provided as a free snack by saloons. Sturgeons, specifically the beluga sturgeons, are the biggest freshwater fish in the world. For example, “The largest Beluga ever caught weighed 1,571 kg (about 3463.46 lb.) and was 7.2 m long”. That is about half the size of an elephant. Beluga sturgeons are larger than other species of sturgeons, and because of that humans have marked the beluga sturgeons as the most valuable. Their large size means they have roe comparably larger to other sturgeon species roe and that is what makes them so valuable because of this they have been inhumanely farmed and poached. The high demand for caviar markets has caused a decrease in the sturgeon population and now 16 of the 27 sturgeon species are critically endangered. Due to sturgeons being heavily populated around the 1960’s, humans started to overfish them for their meat and roe. This caused their population to greatly decrease, negatively affecting caviar production and making it less accessible and rarer. The population of sturgeons declined by 89 percent from 26,000 in 1960s to 2,800 in 1990s in the Caspian Sea. The demand for caviar has also led to sturgeon farming. One study found that “[a]t present (2012), the total caviar output from aquaculture is estimated at 260 tons, a production that could increase to 500-700 tons within the next 10 years”. The dramatic increase of caviar production demonstrates how many Sturgeons are being farmed. To harvest the female sturgeon’s roe, they are slit open which kills the sturgeon. Then, the roe is extracted to be cleaned, salted, and packaged in a tin to become caviar. Although there are better ways to farm sturgeon eggs, most sturgeon farms find the slit process “more efficient.” After reading the above quote by owner and founder of the California Caviar Company, I wondered, How can one eat another non-human animal knowing they are on the brink of extinction? Because that is what we are doing when we eat caviar. Sturgeons are one of over 150,300 species now on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red list because humans have proclaimed their roe (fish eggs) as a “luxurious” treat, and they continue to kill and mistreat these fish for this “delicacy.” Sturgeons are classified in the Acipenseridae genus family. They are a species of fish that primarily live in fresh water and can grow up to 7-12 feet and weigh about an average of 48 pounds. They once dominated the northern hemisphere and were so populated their roe would wash over the shores of beaches and lakes. According to Insider Tech, the sturgeon’s roe used to be so plentiful in the 19th century they would even be provided as a free snack by saloons. Sturgeons, specifically the beluga sturgeons, are the biggest freshwater fish in the world. For example, “The largest Beluga ever caught weighed 1,571 kg (about 3463.46 lb.) and was 7.2 m long”. That is about half the size of an elephant. Beluga sturgeons are larger than other species of sturgeons, and because of that humans have marked the beluga sturgeons as the most valuable. Their large size means they have roe comparably larger to other sturgeon species roe and that is what makes them so valuable because of this they have been inhumanely farmed and poached. The high demand for caviar markets has caused a decrease in the sturgeon population and now 16 of the 27 sturgeon species are critically endangered. Due to sturgeons being heavily populated around the 1960’s, humans started to overfish them for their meat and roe. This caused their population to greatly decrease, negatively affecting caviar production and making it less accessible and rarer. The population of sturgeons declined by 89 percent from 26,000 in 1960s to 2,800 in 1990s in the Caspian Sea. The demand for caviar has also led to sturgeon farming. One study found that “[a]t present (2012), the total caviar output from aquaculture is estimated at 260 tons, a production that could increase to 500-700 tons within the next 10 years”. The dramatic increase of caviar production demonstrates how many Sturgeons are being farmed. To harvest the female sturgeon’s roe, they are slit open which kills the sturgeon. Then, the roe is extracted to be cleaned, salted, and packaged in a tin to become caviar. Although there are better ways to farm sturgeon eggs, most sturgeon farms find the slit process “more efficient.” Overfishing has negatively impacted the habitats of sturgeons. This caused sturgeon farms to exploit and breed sturgeons as their habitat no longer became suitable for them to survive. Sturgeons used to bask in the Caspian Sea, but due to the overfishing, the Caspian Sea found itself becoming a victim of pollution, “The Caspian Sea, shared between five countries – Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan – is in ‘critical condition’ with oil tankers alone dumping over 120,000 tons of pollutants annually”. Not only is the Caspian Sea contaminated with oil and pollutants, but the waste from the Fisherman and their boats also continue to harm all of its inhabitants. Villas surrounding the Caspian Sea have also participated in the damage by disposing their sewage in the Sturgeon’s waters. As we think about the decline in sturgeons, it also begs the question what other species are also fighting for their life in that sea? Sturgeons have also been sought out as a food source because of their rich nutritional value, claiming that eating caviar and Sturgeons are beneficial to humans. According to Eating Sturgeon: An Endangered Delicacy, by Raposo, Alturki, Alkutbe, and Raheem, “Sturgeon flesh includes highly digestible proteins, lipids, vitamins, and minerals. Consuming Sturgeon provides essential fatty acids that play important oxidative and anti-inflammatory roles in human cells.” Caviar has similar nutritional value as sturgeon meat, but caviar also contains polyunsaturated fats and numerous biochemical components that contribute to health benefits because of the biodiversity and fish farming. Understanding the health benefits of sturgeons and caviar gives an insight into why humans continue to consume them, but there are also other alternatives to gaining those same health benefits. This can be done by taking vitamin pills or consuming other foods with that rich nutritional value. Sturgeons have been on the IUCN Red List for many years now. More than half of their species are endangered, yet humans still choose to consume their roe and flesh. The roe is deemed as a delicacy and therefore, they are marketed at high prices and make good profits. We must protect the sturgeon species and any other species on the IUCN Red List from any more harm. It is important to clean our waters and hold each other accountable for our actions. By preventing illegal fishing, overfishing, and pollution we can prevent these species from becoming extinct. You can also abstain from eating caviar. If you must consume caviar, try looking into production called “no kill caviar,” where the female sturgeons are induced into labor instead of being murdered for their roe. ReferencesReferences “Beluga Sturgeon.” Danube Sturgeons, danube-sturgeons.org/sturgeon/beluga-sturgeon/#:~:text=The%20Beluga%20Sturgeon%20(Huso%20huso. Bronzi, P., et al. “Global Sturgeon Aquaculture Production: An Overview.” Journal of Applied Ichthyology, vol. 27, no. 2, 28 Mar. 2011, pp. 169–175, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0426.2011.01757.x. Accessed 28 Nov. 2018. Bronzi, P., and H. Rosenthal. “Present and Future Sturgeon and Caviar Production and Marketing: A Global Market Overview.” Journal of Applied Ichthyology, vol. 30, no. 6, 27 Nov. 2014, pp. 1536–1546, https://doi.org/10.1111/jai.12628. Accessed 30 Dec. 2019. correspondent, Tehran Bureau. “Pollution and Overfishing Plague the Caspian Sea.” The Guardian, 11 Mar. 2015, www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2015/mar/11/iran-caspian-sea-pollution-overfishing. Farag, Mohamed A., et al. “Caviar and Fish Roe Substitutes: Current Status of Their Nutritive Value, Bio-Chemical Diversity, Authenticity and Quality Control Methods with Future Perspectives.” Trends in Food Science & Technology, vol. 110, Apr. 2021, pp. 405–417, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2021.02.015. Accessed 9 Feb. 2022. Raposo, António, et al. “Eating Sturgeon: An Endangered Delicacy.” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 4, 1 Jan. 2023, p. 3511, www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/4/3511, https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043511. “The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, www.iucnredlist.org/about/background-history#:~:text=Currently%2C%20there%20are%20more%20than. Torabi Jafroudi, Hor, et al. “Molecular Identification of Residual DNA Separated from the Persian Sturgeon (Acipenser Persicus) for Modeling EDNA Evaluation in Aquatic Ecosystem.” Journal of Genetic Resources, vol. 9, no. 1, 1 Feb. 2023, pp. 103–110, sc.journals.umz.ac.ir/article_4297.html, https://doi.org/10.22080/jgr.2023.25221.1348. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023. United Nations. “UN Report: Nature’s Dangerous Decline “Unprecedented”; Species Extinction Rates “Accelerating.”” United Nations Sustainable Development, 6 May 2019, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/#:~:text=At%20least%20680%20vertebrate%20species. “Why Caviar Is so Expensive | so Expensive.” YouTube, 8 Feb. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_O5bT3hfkQ. Accessed 31 Oct. 2019. Author BioPatrick Moua is a senior at Mankato State University, majoring in Art Education. His focus is painting but he also enjoys exploring all mediums of art. He spends his summer working with children and enjoying the outdoors. His sisters have a great passion for all animals and that passion carried on over to him.
By Ivan Burmeister The glimmering waves, shimmering horizon, and the immense breathtaking extent of our ocean have long captivated our mind and souls. However, a looming danger lurks below this surface: microplastics. These tiny, virtually invisible particles have infiltrated our oceans, posing a grave threat to marine life and, ultimately, our own well-being. It's time we take a stand to address this issue and all come together to contribute to ocean cleanup efforts. Microplastics are “extremely small pieces of plastic debris in the environment resulting from the disposal and breakdown of consumer products and industrial waste.” Microplastics come in many different shapes and forms, including microbeads from personal care products, microfibers from synthetic clothes or fabrics, and a range of different shaped fragments from larger plastic debris. Because of their tiny size, they can easily infiltrate aquatic ecosystems and go unnoticed by the human eye or some ocean preservation efforts. The amount of plastic in our oceans is truly staggering. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutions reported that a 2015 study conducted by Science.com estimated that roughly eight million tons of plastic enter our oceans each year. Only 1% of this immense amount of plastic is found to be floating atop the surface. This statistic suggests that a majority of our ocean’s plastic is likely microplastic suspended in the water or beneath the ocean floor sediment. Microplastics pose a significant threat to marine life, affecting organisms at all levels of the food chain. The most concerning impact they have is on filter feeders. These are animals such as mussels, oysters, or krill who inevitably and inadvertently consume microplastics while feeding on algae and plankton. These plastics will then accumulate in their digestive tracts, causing blockages, malnutrition, an introduction to foreign toxic chemicals and, in the worst-case scenario, death. These toxic chemicals have been directly linked to a fairly recent influx in cancer seen within wildlife across the globe. Microplastics are also in everyday store-bought food items. While a majority of it comes from processing and packaging plants, a large source of infiltration is also derived from consumption of sea animals. These plastics start their way into our seafood from the very bottom of the food chain through filter feeders and various other organisms eventually making it all the way to our plates. Microplastics, and plastic in general, are unable to be broken down naturally through biodegradation or through the digestive tract. A study from Ohio State University shows that enzymes, which typically are in charge of breaking down biodegradable materials, don't recognize the bonds that hold polypropylene (plastic) together. This causes plastic to be trapped within the food chain, unable to exit and finding its way directly to whichever animal, human or non-human, that finds itself atop the food chain. While microplastics finding their way into our digestive systems haven't shown serious signs of major digestive blockage linked to death or injury, they do introduce a world of harmful chemicals linked to cancer and other serious health conditions to us. Chemicals like PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls), BPA (bisphenol A), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), and various other carcinogens are found in plastic and are linked to causing life threatening diseases. Various pesticides and flame retardants can also be absorbed and released by plastic once it has been introduced to an animal's digestive system. Our oceans' great coral reefs are also victims of this microplastic attack. While it's true, and very real, that microplastics impact coral through the same methods of ingestion that other non-human animals deal with, coral is unique because of the pretty cool relationship they form with microscopic algae. This algae will inhabit the coral's tissue gaining a protective shelter in which they utilize to photosynthesize and in exchange supply the coral with up to 90% of the food they produce through photosynthesis. While microplastic is very small the microscopic algae is smaller, so when the two meet, microplastic can obstruct the sunlight vital for photosynthesis hindering the algae and coral from getting a vital source of nutrition from our sun. Depending on the scale of microplastic in the environment, this can lead to serious health risks for the coral, leading to bleaching, and even death. Coral bleaching impacts the entire ecosystem the particular reef lives in. Healthy coral can support thousands of species of fish and other organisms which use the coral for shelter from larger predators, food, and breeding grounds directly contributing to the longevity of a particular species life. Coral's help isn't limited to just the ocean either. Because of the algae that inhabits coral, a positive attribute is that they can also help remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere which ever more slightly helps us win the climate change battle making them ever more vital to our life here on earth. Coral can also help protect the coast from erosion and storm damage by reducing the impact of waves, protecting communities in regions prone to tropical storms and hurricanes. There are plenty of things you can add or change to your current lifestyle to help contribute to combating the issue of microplastic pollution in our oceans. By recycling, reducing your usage of single-use plastics, and considering a complete switch to biodegradable plastics we can help reduce the major influx of plastic entering our oceans every year contributing to a better, happier ocean. I encourage you to follow up this article with your own research about biodegradable plastic and explore the ways you can integrate them into your own life. Here are some places you can start:
ReferencesChatterjee, S., & Sharma, S. (2019, March 1). Microplastics in our oceans and Marine Health. Field Actions Science Reports. The journal of field actions. https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/5257 US Department of Commerce, N. O. and A. A. (2016b, April 13). What are microplastics?. NOAA’s National Ocean Service. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html Marine microplastics. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. (2019, February 6). https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/ocean-topics/ocean-human-lives/pollution/marine-microplastics/ The Ohio State University, Y. V. (2022, June 3). Why isn’t plastic biodegradable? OSU.edu. https://news.osu.edu/why-isnt-plastic-biodegradable/#:~:text=The%20enzymes%20in%20the%20microorganisms,already%20done%20to%20the%20environment. Exposure to Chemicals in Plastic. Exposure to chemicals in plastic. (n.d.). https://www.breastcancer.org/risk/risk-factors/exposure-to-chemicals-in-plastic Written By Michael Greger M.D. FACLM • July 11, 2023 Last updated: July 12. (2023, July 11). Microplastics in seafood and cancer risk . NutritionFacts.org. https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/microplastics-in-seafood-and-cancer-risk/ Are corals plants, animals, or rocks?. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. (2022, April 29). https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/did-you-know/are-corals-plants-animals-or-rocks/#:~:text=Because%20corals%20are%20animals%2C%20they,home%20in%20the%20coral’s%20tissues. The Ohio State University, Y. V. (2022, June 3). Why isn’t plastic biodegradeable. OSU.edu. https://news.osu.edu/why-isnt-plastic-biodegradable/#:~:text=The%20enzymes%20in%20the%20microorganisms,already%20done%20to%20the%20environment. Alexandra Thompson Health Reporter For Mailonline. (2018, May 22). Humans are causing cancer in animals with a surge in plastic waste, dirty oceans, pesticides and even street lamps. Daily Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5757461/Humans-causing-cancer-ANIMALS-surge-plastic-waste-light-pollution-pesticides.html Carlstedt, T. J. (2022, March 15). California and the world move toward cleaning up microplastics: What you need to know now water. The Nickel Report. https://www.huntonnickelreportblog.com/2022/03/california-and-the-world-move-toward-cleaning-up-microplastics-what-you-need-to-know-now/ Zolotova, N., Kosyreva, A., Dzhalilova, D., Fokichev, N., & Makarova, O. (2022, June 14). Harmful effects of the microplastic pollution on Animal Health: A Literature Review. PeerJ. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9205308/ US Department of Commerce, N. O. and A. A. (2013, June 1). Zooxanthellae...what’s that - corals: NOAA’s National Ocean Service Education. Zooxanthellae: Corals Tutorial. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_corals/coral02_zooxanthellae.html#:~:text=The%20relationship%20between%20the%20zooxanthellae,to%20the%20host%20coral%20tissue. What is blue carbon?. Great Barrier Reef Foundation. (n.d.). https://www.barrierreef.org/news/explainers/what-is-blue-carbon#why-is-protecting-blue-carbon-important Author BioIvan Burmeister is a sophomore Pro Flight Aviation major at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He plans to pursue a career in Commercial Aviation. His dream is to use his aviation knowledge to travel the world and experience different cultures and customs. Animals have always been a passion of his, surrounding himself with nature and companion animals.
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