People talk about over-fishing all the time, but what does it exactly mean? Perhaps the above graphic from a paper out of the University of British Columbia [PDF], which used "ecosystem models, underwater terrain maps, fish catch records and statistical analysis to render the biomass of Atlantic fish at various points this century," will help clarify. As you can see, the supply of popular fishes like bluefin tuna, cod, haddock, hake, halibut, herring, mackerel, pollock, salmon, sea trout, striped bass, sturgeon and turbot has greatly diminished in the past hundred-plus years. But how come, with all those environmentalists calling on restrictions the past thirty years, that number of fish in the sea keeps dropping? Blame it on bad generational memory, apparently. more ›

Montreal-based food writer Taras Grescoe thinks something fishy is up with the global seafood economy. From pollutants to piracy, preservatives to Patagonian toothfish, Grescoe surveys the state of our collective waterways in his new book Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood, which combines some literal seabed muckraking with a fascinating travelogue. Each chapter follows a specific fish down the food chain from net to dinner plate; the book is a sort of aquatic The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Grescoe emerges with a clear breakdown of the issues, and a guide for sourcing seafood with an emphasis on sustainability. more ›