I agree. We do have some real quick thinking to do if we are going to help maintain the environment that we pollute and over utilize. I have to admit that I love salmon! It's probably my favorite meat and perhaps food. I don't live anywhere near their native range so it can be said that if it were not for commercial fishing, I would have never been a consumer of the fish.
I don't think that I am alone. We as a population are definitely capable of impacting populations of wildlife in many ways. Overhunting, overfishing, overcrowding, overpolluting, it's all something that we do collectively simply because we can. It is a convenient and attractive proposition to drive to the store and pick up a bumping slice of salmon to throw on the grill, which we start with petroleum and which is fueled by charcoal. Every step in that process hurts the environment by some tiny amount. Add up all of the folks doing it and it does have some impact which we can't just reason away.
Saying that it'll be bad for our grandkids and that we won't see it in our time is not an acceptable vantage point in my view. It is not fair to the ecosystems and it is not fair to our grandchildren. We need to be good stewards of our environment, even realizing our impact on environments that we cannot see. I can't see Alaska from Virginia but if I can help the salmon, the bear, the indians, and other less visible lives in that area by not eating western or pacific salmon and advising others to do the same, then I will be glad to. The alternative is to farm raise the fish in ponds locally.
I think that bringing politics into environmental issues other than in an effort to help the environment is shameful in any form. I'll not take sides on the various eco debates here as it is simply not the place but I'll just say that no political ideaology is immune from the problem. It effects us all. What seemingly must be done by the governments of the US, Alaska, Canada, and British Colombia in this case is to investigate and address the situation. This seems to need immediate attention and not be drawn out over years to satisfy various lobbies. These aminals, although not having rights as citizens, have god given places in this world and deserve protection from human abuses. Anyone who has sympathy for the mistreatment of domestic animals must also be willing to consider that humans also mistreat wild animals even if they do so passively and without their direct knowledge or actions. I will be alarmed and ashamed if my eating of fish and support of a broken system impacts in any way the environment. I may not be able to completely change my "carbon footprint" or whatever as it relates to my daily life but I can easily choose foods at the supermarket.
