After 135 Years, the End of the Sardine Industry in the U.S.

[The Straight Story]

After 135 Years, the End of the Sardine Industry in the U.S.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Next week will mark the end of an industry in the United States when the last remaining sardine factory closes down. Bumble Bee, owner of the sardine cannery in Prospect Harbor, Maine, has decided to shutter the operation because of government limitations on the harvesting of herring (pre-processed sardines), combined with dwindling demand for the fish.

Maine’s sardine industry dates back to the 1870s. It reached its peak in the early 1950s, when thousands of workers were employed at more than 50 canneries. Since then, globalization and changes in America’s appetite caused one plant after another to close.

Closure of the Prospect Harbor factory will mean a loss of 128 jobs for the local community, situated in a county that already has 12% unemployment.

http://www.allgov.com/Controversies/ViewNews/After_135_Years_the_End_of_the_Sardine_Industry_in_the_US_100406

[Submariner]

1. It takes 5 pounds of sardines to make 1 pound of farmed salmon

Sardine (and anchovy) stocks are being depleted to make feed stock for farmed fish, mostly Atlantic and Pacific salmon. That is why fishing restrictions put the U.S. out of business. The other countries will do the same and over-fish the resource out of existence.

Don't buy/eat farmed fish.

[TalkingDog]

3. +1 n/t

[Winterblues]

8. One year the commercial fishing fleet in Alaska was given anchovies instead of herring for bait

Only lasted for a couple of weeks but in that short time salmon fishing dropped off to almost nothing. Salmon just would not eat Anchovies. Herring or artificial bait was all that worked for catching salmon..

[ensho]

2. kick

nt

[xchrom]

4. One of the sadder stories I'll read this week. Nt

[Rebubula]

5. I blame...

...this guy....

[nealmhughes]

6. Dang, I can't remember the last time I bought US herring at all.

I have bought Baltic, German, Icelandic, and UK, but not US lately.

[Javaman]

7. Our oceans overfished to feed the pigs

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/our-oceans-overfished-to-feed-the-pigs/1342227.aspx

Factory-farmed fish, pigs and poultry are consuming 28 million tonnes of fish a year, or roughly six times the amount of seafood eaten by Americans, according to new research.
A nine-year study by the University of British Columbia has found that 90 per cent of small fish caught in the world's oceans every year such as anchovies, sardines and mackerel are processed to make fishmeal and fish oil.

They are used as a cheap feed for aquaculture (including farmed Atlantic salmon, prawns and trout), poultry, pigs and animals bred for the fur industry.

The study's findings, to be published next month, warn this use is unsustainable, given current rates of global overfishing and increasing threats to global food security.

More at link...