CHEFS 4 THE PLANET

THE GLOBAL INFORMATION AND SOLUTIONS NETWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE GASTRONOMY

THE GLOBAL INFORMATION AND SOLUTIONS NETWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE GASTRONOMY

EATING JELLYFISH IS A MORE SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVE TO FISH SAY SCIENTISTS

We should be eating more jellyfish if we want to save the planet, says new research.

Scientists at the University of Queensland, Australia say we should be increasing our consumption of jellyfish worldwide, in order to protect threatened fish species and safeguard marine conservation efforts. Fishing is an ongoing threat to 96 per cent of threatened fish species, and the only ongoing threat for some, according to the IUCN.

The research found that 91 globally threatened species of fish are being legally caught on an industrial scale. Around 15 per cent of these species are traded internationally, mainly for consumption across Europe. This includes fish like haddock, Atlantic horse mackerel, and bigeye tuna.

“It should be illegal to eat something that is threatened by extinction, especially species that are critically endangered,” says Dr Carissa Klein, who worked on the study.

“We would never consider eating mountain gorillas or elephants, both of which are endangered,” adds PhD candidate Leslie Roberson, who co-authored the paper.

If we want to continue eating seafood, industrial harvesting needs to turn to more sustainable sources, according to the Queensland team. Jellyfish have been a staple of some cuisines for over 1,700 years, but aren’t a mainstream protein source worldwide yet.

A RENEWABLE SPECIES

Due to the way jellyfish reproduce, fishing them is more akin to apple-picking than conventional fishing, Marine biologist Lisa-ann Gershwin recently told BBC News.

“With fish, you fish them out and they’re all gone, but with jellyfish it is like picking apples from a tree,” explains Gershwin. “They have a life-cycle that the more you take out, the more they are producing, like apples on a tree.”

Read the rest here: https://www.euronews.com/living/2020/10/26/eating-jellyfish-is-a-more-sustainable-alternative-to-fish-say-scientists

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