Introduction to the Pescatarian's Guide

Hello Pescatarians! How are you all? 

I’m wonderful. Thank you for asking.

I am your lovely narrator who will be commenting all along as you read through this website. 

My name, you ask? I do not have one. I am simply your narrator. 

My life-story? I do not have one. I am simply your narrator.

My position of authority on matters of environmental and health sciences? … I'd prefer not to answer.

Anyway, as we journey through this website you may have some questions and I would like to at least address a few of them in this introduction. 

Firstly, One might be thinking to oneself, Hmmm. What is a pescatarian, oh, lovely narrator?

Why I’m glad One asked. A pescatarian is simply someone who eats seafood, but no other types of meat. 

Do you think that diet of seafood might include shrimp, salmon, and tuna? One might ask.

Why, that’s exactly what it would include and just for you, I’ll go into detail on those specific kinds of seafood. At that, I’m sure One would smile and nod. Also, I’m sure One would immediately click over to those sections when One is finished reading this section. Hint. Hint. 

You may have noticed in this website so that I refer to One quite often — for example I would say “One would think…” or “One would be wrong” or something along those lines. You might think that I simply capitalized One by mistake and that I am a silly, grammar-less fool! However, this is not the case. I am, in fact, doing this absurd capitalization for a reason. The Pescatarian’s Guide is not only a very cool (and at least slightly entertaining?) website, it is also… a children's book! 

That’s about the coolest thing I could have said. I wrote a children’s book about fish and it's called "The Adventures of One Fish." 

You might still be wondering, Narrator, I understand the whole children’s book thing, sure, but I still don’t understand why you are capitalizing the word One.

Ahh, you’re right. That is because in my children’s book, the main character’s named is One Fish or One for short.

But….

Oh. His name is One Fish and his brother’s name is Two Fish. He meets a fish named Red Fish and another named Blue Fish. I’d like to take this time say that it’s actually quite interesting–

Shall move on to something related to the point of this website?

Okay, okay. Hold your seahorses. I’m getting there. 

Finally, the Science

To survive, the Marine Ecosystem must maintain a delicate balance of relationships between species. The health of such an ecosystem can be easily upset by the smallest alteration. 

For example, when fertilizers from nearby farms runoff into lakes and oceans, algae begins to flourish. One would think that such a bloom of algae, which is the main food source for many animals living there, would be a positive addition to the ecosystem. However, One cannot foresee the untended consequences until they occur. The algae causes the increase of these species which means the carnivorous animals that eat them become well fed and also increase in population. But soon, they eat all of the herbivores and overpopulate the area. Because of this overpopulation and lack of prey, these animals die out as well. In the end, that leaves the ecosystem animal-less. 

But wait, there’s more. After the animals die out, the algae is free to flourish once again. 

What damage can some harmless algae do now? One would think, I’m sure, though animal-less, the ecosystem is now fairly safe and stable.

Well, One would be wrong. The algae consumes the nutrients in the water to survive, but because there aren’t enough animals to replenish this nutrient supply, the algae, along with most of the other plants in the area, dies out quickly as well. Now the area is animal-less and plant-less.

But wait, there’s more.

The decaying process needs oxygen and as the large amount of dead algae decays, it takes lots of oxygen from the water, thereby killing many of the surviving plants and animals.

Whoa. 

Though this was simply meant as an example of the delicate balance of nature, it’s also a great jumping off point for the section about the positive and negative health impacts of seafood. 

These algal blooms, as they are called, not only kill the animals nearby, they also harm the animals in a “safe” distance. Fish that have been subjected to a harmful algal bloom (HAB) often start producing natural toxins that harm themselves and others around them. 

As the wise and mystical Joni Mitchell says, “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.”

Now, click here to learn more about seafood and your health. Or click here to learn more about seafood and the environment.