Another certification standard for fish?

It seems the state of California is considering developing its own eco-labelling standards for seafood. Unfortunately, the standards will rely heavily on those of the Marine Stewardship Council. But on the bright side, MSC's standards, while flawed, aren't always as big of a problem as the third-party certifiers who examine whether fisheries meet them. Not to mention the fact that a fishery can flunk a few standards with scores of 60 but still pass with conditions. Under the California standards, fisheries must score 80 on certain elements of the standards concerning stock status and bycatch. This is a definite step up from MSC standards, and one that raises the bar for potential applicants. Now they'll have to get their ducks in a row before they get the coveted label.

In any case, it's good to see that people are recognizing that MSC can be improved. I'm sure Californians will appreciate the opportunity to know a little bit more about the fish on their plates.

Wasting your money, depleting the ocean

An MP in Britain has launched a campaign to bring attention to an under-scrutinized issue: the use of government money to purchase fish from depleted stocks to serve in public institutions like schools and hospitals. It's an interesting issue - there have been efforts in the U.S. to direct public money towards more healthy foods for school lunches instead of essentially subsidizing producers of less healthful foods by purchasing their surpluses. But few members of the public understand just how complicit many governments are in encouraging overfishing. Whether it's subsidies to fishers who aren't following sustainable practices, or allowing operators to have a say in management decisions (and even fisheries science isn't all that sound at times), governments aren't always the good guys.

It's about time the public realized that their governments are hastening the abuse of public resources.

Our Man in Antarctica

ASOC is pleased to have been contacted by Cody Meyer, aka Antarctic Cowboy, who works as a chef at McMurdo and is very interested in Antarctic conservation and off-grid living when he's not busy feeding hungry scientists. He's even started an Antarctic Conservation League for his fellow McMurdo-ites.

From Cody's updates, it appears that a welcome effort to keep research stations sustainable is underway. Whether briefing staffers on ways to conserve resources or installing wind farms, it appears that the old days of assuming that there were so few people in Antarctica that they didn't have to worry about pollution are thankfully over. The Ross Island Wind Farm that went online this year, for example, will eventually supply 100% of Ross Station's energy needs, and 50% of McMurdo's according to Cody.

It's fantastic that there are people like Cody around to spread the word about greener ways of living, especially in fragile environments. He recently gave a presentation in Antarctica explaining his background in sustainable, off-grid living. Some slides from his presentation below:





Check out Cody's blog post on his adventures in living sustainably. And if you're working in Antarctica, join the Antarctic Conservation League! We at ASOC look forward to hearing more from Cody and the ACL.


One of the wind turbines for the new Ross Island wind turbine, courtesy of Mr. Meyer. In case you were wondering, Antarctica is the windiest place on the planet so it's a no-brainer to use wind power down there, although transporting the equipment does present something of a problem.

New Zero-Emissions Research Station in Antarctica

Video: Belgium's new Princess Elizabeth station.

Belgium opened its new zero-emissions research station, the first of its kind, in Antarctica this week. The station has been designed for energy efficiency and is powered by wind and solar energy. Toilet and shower water can be recycled multiple times.

The station took two years to build, and will be used primarily by scientists studying climate change. Since Belgium closed its last Antarctic research station in 1967, this station will be Belgium's only Antarctic station.

Many have responded positively to the new station because of the example it sets for other Antarctic research stations as well as the rest of the world. The project director of the station noted that if such an efficient station could be built in Antarctica, with its harsh climate, certainly the technologies used to build the station could be used elsewhere.

The station is indeed a great development, both for Antarctica and for the rest of the world. Hopefully other stations will take note of the design and technologies used by Belgium to construct this eco-friendly station and retrofit their own buildings to be more energy-efficient. Since most countries transport their waste out of Antarctica, wasting less will also reduce what they have to bring back.