CONSERVATIONSAVING THE CORAL REEFS
I have witnessed over 190 sea turtles wash up on shore with their fins cut off, dead from drowning from shrimpers in the Osa Peninsula, in a one month period. Ninety percent of the shrimp served in the U.S. and in other countries comes from the tropics. 100% of the shrimp in Costa Rica is harvested here. It is harvested in non-sustainable ways. Along with that, for every pound of shrimp harvested here, about ten pounds of other creatures are killed and thrown overboard, dead. many of these creatures are baby fish that would become many of the large fish in the ocean.
The nets of the shrimpers are sometimes dragged along the coral reefs which also destroys them. it not only destroys much of the reef but also catches many of the fish in the reef which die when brought aboard the boat.
Some shrimp is farmed. The farms are generally constructed where mangrove swamps, another very important fragile ecosystem and nursery for baby fish, have been cut down for this purpose and ponds are made to raise the shrimp. After the shrimp are harvested from these ponds the water in them is released into the mangroves. Unfortunately overfeeding the shrimp causes the nitrate level to be so high that many of the mangrove fish and other underwater creatures are affected by this contamination. So eating shrimp is not sustainable for our fish populations. there are many other foods to eat without having such a horrible inpact to our eco-sytems.
SAVING THE RAINFOREST
Here is another major problem. Over 80% of the dry tropical forests from northern Costa Rica (Guanacaste) to Mexico have been cut down. Areas of this size and larger have been cut down throughout the world including the Amazon, Indonesia, the Congo and other rainforests. The ground temperature after removing the rainforest has risen dramatically in these large tracts of land. When these huge areas have their trees removed, erosion dumps millions of tons of sediment into the rivers that flow into the oceans. This sediment slowly suffocates the polyps of the precious coral reefs in the tropics.
What is the main reason for cutting these rainforests down? The main reason is to make room to raise cattle, not logging as many people think. With logging they generally cut down large hardwoods. To raise cow meat they cut down everything. In Central America much of the beef is exported to the United States. What can the average person do? Stop eating beef. If the beef is grown in the United States sorry that isn't sustainable either. A person who eats cow meat (beef) as their main protein source requires about 20 acres of land each year and over 2500 gallons of precious water to raise that steer for protein. That is not sustainability. A person eating soy, legumes, nuts and seeds for their main source of protein only requires one acre of land and about 100 gallons of water each year to grow it. Also, soy doesn't add millions of tons of methane gas each year to our atmosphere. Cows do produce over 50 million tons of
this global warming methane gas in just in the U.S. Cattle excrement also is adding to major pollution problems in our water systems today. If you must eat a meat chicken is much less destructive to the environment than beef. Besides, refraining from eating beef is healthier in the long run. If you want to take responsibility in helping save our planet from global warming, deforestation of the rainforests, dying coral reefs there are many other eating alternatives to beef and shrimp. please, eat to live, don't live to eat.
The entire beef industry causes more global pollution than all of the vehicles on the planet.
submitted by Henry Kankowitz.
