Is eating meat rather than fish more environmentally friendly

A.� Well, to answer Isaacr's question, the oceans do appear to be badly managed and over fished: there are 20 varieties of fish that conservationists want shoppers to avoid buying because of the impact on their numbers and the environment.

�

Of course the issues surrounding the management of livestock are very complicated, as the recent foot and mouth outbreak illustrated. However meat should be easier to manage than fish in the sea.

�

Q.� What fish shouldn't I eat

A.� Traditional British staples like cod and haddock, along with tuna, seabass, snapper, monkfish, swordfish and shark are off the menu if you want to help maintain the ocean's ecosystem.

�

Q.� So I should stop eating fish altogether

A.� It's not quite that dramatic yet: for each of the 20 threatened species a Good Fish Guide lists an alternative. It's hoped that by eating a wider variety of fish, those species with heavily depleted numbers will have a chance to recover.

�

To have a look at the Guide, visit The Marine Conservation Society web site.

�

Q.� Given the vastness and depth of the oceans, how can so many fish be caught

A.� The fishing industry is very lucrative and therefore very sophisticated methods are in place to make sure that maximum catches are achieved.

�

Military sonars are used to track down even the deepest living fish. Deep-sea trawling methods are now sophisticated enough to fish at previously unchartered depths. The latest fishing boat has nets twice the size of the Millennium Dome. These huge nets not only catch huge numbers of fish, they also indiscriminately kill sea birds and mammals and other creatures that the fishermen dont want.

�

The main problem with deep-sea fishing is that many species at these depths have a much longer life cycle than those nearer the surface. They live much longer and reach sexual maturity much later, so when they're caught, they may not have had chance to breed yet.

�

Do you have a question about how to help protect our environment Click here to ask.

�

by Lisa Cardy