Coming up short

In case you've had your head in the sand for the last two weeks, you're likely well aware right now that we're coming up short. First off, there's a shortage of food in the world. Thank God that the noble potato still exists - there's a story on Reuters about how people are turning to tubers around the world. I still remember digging 'em with my granddad as a kid - they are truly a treasure of a food.

Salmon runs are also coming up short. There's been a drastic closure of the fisheries on the west coast, prompting Gov. Ahnold to declare a state of emergency and ask for federal $$ for the fisherman.

The bust of the west coast salmon fishery is quite a wake-up call for a federal administration that just a few years ago, after a good return, wanted to reduce monitoring programs since the salmon were "recovering". This is just further proof that one "good" year doesn't amount to much in the big scheme of an overall recovery plan.

All of this points to the need for more sustainable resources and management of those resources. Recent studies suggest that the salmon populations are crashing because of a decline in their food and changes to their ocean environment, the most poorly understood part of their life cycle. Even if you buy the claim that we're just in the bust part of a "boom and bust" cycle, surely the cycle shouldn't go so low?! A New York Times editorial points out that our current administration's agricultural interests have tinged their fish habitat management policies.

Until we make the preservation of habitat and sustainable management of natural resources a priority we and the organisms we exploit will continue to suffer decline and starvation. There is no time like the present to affect change.