A fish farmer, right, brought oysters to buyers in Yuxi, a town in Fuqing County, Fujian. (Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)
Posted on 12/14/2007 8:11:48 PM PST by JACKRUSSELL
(FUQING, China) — Here in southern China, beneath the looming mountains of Fujian Province, lie dozens of enormous ponds filled with murky brown water and teeming with eels, shrimp and tilapia, much of it destined for markets in Japan and the West.
Fuqing is one of the centers of a booming industry that over two decades has transformed this country into the biggest producer and exporter of seafood in the world, and the fastest-growing supplier to the United States.
But that growth is threatened by the two most glaring environmental weaknesses in China: acute water shortages and water supplies contaminated by sewage, industrial waste and agricultural runoff that includes pesticides. The fish farms, in turn, are discharging wastewater that further pollutes the water supply.
“Our waters here are filthy,” said Ye Chao, an eel and shrimp farmer who has 20 giant ponds in western Fuqing. “There are simply too many aquaculture farms in this area. They’re all discharging water here, fouling up other farms.”
Farmers have coped with the toxic waters by mixing illegal veterinary drugs and pesticides into fish feed, which helps keep their stocks alive yet leaves poisonous and carcinogenic residues in seafood, posing health threats to consumers.
Environmental degradation, in other words, has become a food safety problem, and scientists say the long-term risks of consuming contaminated seafood could lead to higher rates of cancer and liver disease and other afflictions.
No one is more vulnerable to these health risks than the Chinese, because most of the seafood in China stays at home. But foreign importers are also worried. In recent years, the European Union and Japan have imposed temporary bans on Chinese seafood because of illegal drug residues. The United States blocked imports of several types of fish this year after inspectors detected traces of illegal......
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
A fish farmer, right, brought oysters to buyers in Yuxi, a town in Fuqing County, Fujian. (Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)
Fuqing disgusting.
“Then soon wild caught fish will go the way of wild caught land mammals.”
Wild animals are getting more abundant here at least.
And let’s hope wild fish in the ocean remain.
more abundant here at least.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In parts of america only. Everywhere else in the world...going going gone.
I’ve become a label fanatic. I passed up lots of shrimp today farmed in China.
The Fuqing Chinese really need to get their act together.
Had a great stuffed shrimp dinner tonight at a restaurant but I ‘ve no idea where it came from.
There are some people on the gulf and southern Atlantic caost that are selling fresh local shrimp online. Price is high but the quality and taste is also high from what I have read.
Just google fresh gulf shrimp.
‘course, most of us don’t eat wily coyote...or the wild turkey he’s prowling for. Most of us eat green eggs and ham and red chinese seafood. Merry christmas.
red chinese seafoods
I do not like them
in a house.
I do not like them
with a mouse.
I do not like them
here or there.
I do not like them
anywhere.
I do not like red chinese seafoods.
I do not like them, mamelukesabre.
soo sooory your name doesn’t ryhme with red chinese seafoods. :)
Merry Christmas. Lord be with You.
Vegetarianism is looking better and better.
And that’s coming from a dedicated carnivore.
Mmmm! Yummy....
Seriously, you have to be nuts to eat any imported sea-stuff. Unless I catch it myself or see guarantees it come off somebody's tuna boat on the east coast, or salmon from a west coast fisherman, I will not eat it.
90% of that is processed in.... China, rinsed "clean" with that lovely brown water, fast frozen or canned, and shipped back to the USA.
Even here ther is a lot of "stuff" used on veggies.
There is not a river, stream, lake or pond in China that is not polluted. Everything that comes from water in China should be avoided.
The above picture is typical of Chinese waters. The red slime might be another color at another water source - but it is slime. And, it is covering everything.
The above picture posted by #1, is the "cleanest" water I have seen so far, in China.
Be sure you know your fish source before you put it in your mouth.
But what the heck, all the celebrities and euro fags love the stuff, the "enviro friendly" synthetic fabrics, toxicating colors.
What's so laughable about it all, It's their symbol of "greeness", they all claim to be an eviro wienie of some sort, or supporter of Kyoto.
” 90% of that is processed in.... China, rinsed “clean” with that lovely brown water, fast frozen or canned, and shipped back to the USA.”
90% of what?
I just had a “nissan cup noodle” soup.... it’s made in Japan. I won’t buy food where the label says made in China. As much as possible I prefer to eat fresh food I cook myself.I may be a couple pounds overweight but at least it’s not from eating poison, when I can help it.
The corned beef I made 2 nights ago def wasn’t from China. :)
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