Four Fish by Paul Greenberg

The author begins by telling us his personal story: where he comes from, his social origins and his family members. In this passage, we learn how Greenberg came to discover fishing and why it became the passion of his life. As he shows us how he gradually went further in his discovery of the sea, we understand that he actually draws a parallel with the way he studied fish: far beyond home, all across the oceans and rivers, from the wild salmon runs in Alaska to the Long Island Sound and the fjords of Norway. The researcher is particularly interested in four species of fish that most commonly end up in our plates: salmon, bass, cod and tuna. We quickly understand in this introduction that the stake is to make this multi-billion fishing industry move toward sustainability. In this perspective Greenberg wants us to study and choose the right levers to manage both wild and cultivated fish industries.

The first observation of Greenberg is very simple. Fishermen catch too many fish and this is the reason why species have declined. In the passage, Greenberg focuses mainly on salmon whose consumption has drastically increased over the last decades. He raises several issues. The first is lobbying that prevents the emergence of a strong sustainable certification. The second is environmental. Human footprint has kept on increasing with the increasing consumption. As a result, pollution of rivers and seas has removed many species and climate changes changed the rules of the natural selection.

[...] Ethical issue: water pollution and the fish, case of BP rig in the golf of Mexico When Greenberg mentions Alaska and its fish reserve, it reminded me the Exxon Valdez oil slick. What about the last disaster that happened this summer in the golf of Mexico? The BP oil spill is the largest accidental release of oil into marine waters, according to some experts. It caused a lot of concerns about its short-term and long-term water pollution effects. Various approaches were undertaken to plug the leak and reduce the impact of the oil on the sea surface and the coasts. [...]

[...] Comparatively, by showing the influence of mussels in the development of salmons, Greenberg explains us how the researchers community showed that cultures have to provide nutrients to fish rather than ingredients. To conclude on this topic, he says: “selection pressure should be put on farms rather than on artificial salmon”. Finally, if we want to reintroduce fish in rivers and seas from which they have been banned, we learn that it is not only about genetics but also about preparing juveniles for reintroduction and timing the stocking of rivers, by providing tanks with currents and predators that they will have to tackle in their future natural environment. [...]