Plastic Forever: June 2024

You’ve likely seen a picture of the Tuna Auction at Tsukiji Market in Tokyo where the bodies of the great fish are laid out in rows for inspection. Fully 1/5 of all the Planet’s fishery passes through the wide maw of Tsukiji; not only the famous Tuna, but every species of edible seafood passes through. We have personally seen this awesome and heartbreaking scene and have eaten Sushi at one of the many sushi bars catering to the workers there. And thinking of oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle’s famous aphorism, “Remember, it’s not Seafood, it’s Sealife!”

For the exhibition What’s Cookin’? at the Palo Alto Art Center, we propose a line of imaginary tinned fish, where the labels vividly tell the story, all set on a shelf for your delectation.

Seefood indeed! — Not that we don't love it in all its iterations: sushi, scallops quick-fried in butter, oysters, chowder, even gefilte fish, but—Dr. Earle encourages everyone to give up eating what comes out of the ocean. We support her "Give the Sea a Break" campaign that points the way to a sabbatical for the sea so that the natural balance can be restored.

When you think of fishing you might harken back to a pole, a hook, with a worm dropped in a stream. Fond memories of catching and eating or catching and releasing. When you think of commercial fishing you probably think of giant nets swooping up a school of fish. You’re not wrong! Over 80% of fish are caught via nets. Industrial fishing nets with lengths up to 7 miles, catch and kill unintended species— bycatch fish, sea birds, turtles, and whales—en masse. In addition to removing large numbers of fish, many large-scale fishing practices also destroy aquatic habitats by dredging or seafloor trawling that scoops up everything that will be used along with much that will be discarded. This is extraction on a monumental scale. Fishing gear can be even more destructive when it becomes lost or forgotten in the water because it continues to “ghost fish” ensnaring animals that aren't being harvested for use. And farmed fish eat huge quantities of small wild-caught fish (sardines and anchoives) depleting the bottom of the food chain and causing waste pollution problems around and under the farm pens.

The facts about pollution are well known as news about subtropical gyres filled with plastic particles: millions of this, billions of that, tons of everything, sift into information overload. By now most have heard the grim statistic that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. When is enough enough?

Personal responsibility for what we buy and use empowers us to feel we can "do something" about the problem of pollution. A virtue to be sure. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and lately, the refrain of refuse, is part of being a responsible consumer and good planetary citizen.

Although the planetary troubles of toxic chemicals, plastic pollution, and the detrimental effects of overfishing do seem insurmountable, we believe that art, that is both entertaining and educating, is an effective way to get the message across.

We want the daunting information about the health of the oceans to flow first through the appreciation of humor and beauty, then to a core of personal responsibility. We all know the proverbial saying, you are what you eat. We do have a choice in the food we eat and the packaging our food comes in. Every choice we make has a consequence and makes a difference.

So just open a can of our “see food’ and serve up the issues in a bowl of good humor.