Someone e-mailed me and sent a link to this article, which claims that Al Gore did not dine on "endangered" Chilean Sea Bass, so I thought I would take a moment and clarify things.
The initial report stated,
Gore and his guests at the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass – arguably one of the world’s most threatened fish species.
and this new report states,
…the fish enjoyed by the Gores were not endangered or illegally caught.
Rather, the restaurant later confirmed, they had come from one of the world's few well-managed, sustainable populations of toothfish, and caught and documented in compliance with Marine Stewardship Council regulations.
The second report confirms the fact that Mr. Gore did indeed dine on toothfish (aka Chilean Sea Bass).
The second report tries to separate "well-managed, sustainable populations" of toothfish and the wild endangered ones. Thats asinine.
Think about it for a moment. The entire species is threatened, not just some wild branch in the family tree. Being "endangered" means it is in danger of extinction. Whether the toothfish comes from some well-managed farm or is found in the wild, it's still the same species, and it's still endangered.
I have never heard a more cockamamy comparison in my life.
Does eating a "farmed" endangered species save them from extinction the same way purchasing "carbon offsets" makes people more energy efficient?
So, to clarify things, Chilean Sea Bass is an endangered species, and it appears Al Gore did, in fact, dine on Chilean Sea Bass. It does not matter if the meal was farmed, or from the wild, and it doesn't get much clearer than that.
Chip Flowers
