Saturday, July 27, 2013

Herring Wars

Photo by ADT
JoeAnd so, it begins: the great North Atlantic Herring War of '13:

This March, the Faroe Islands unilaterally declared a herring quota of 105,230 tons, three times the amount they would have been allotted under the fisheries management plan. Since the total allowable catch (TAC) for all member nations is only 619,000 tons, the Faroese claim accounts for over 17% of the herring fishery. The European Fisheries Council, under pressure from the UK, responded that, if the Faroese move forward with their self-declared quota, trade sanctions will be imposed against the tiny island nation. Should the sanctions take effect, they will be the first implemented under the new European fisheries management plan and will prevent Faroese fishers from landing or importing catches in EU ports. The sanctions may also prevent all Faroese ships from entering EU ports. The Faroe Islands responded to the threat of sanctions, calling them economic coercion and requesting a return to reasoned debates. The Faroes maintain that the current stock allocation does not account for recent changes in herring distribution and that herring are more abundant in Faroese waters now than when the original management plan was implemented.

In light of the dispute, the Marine Stewardship Council stripped the sustainability certification from Faroese Atlantic herring.

You simply have to love any article which includes the phrase, "In a phenomenon colloquially referred to as the 'Miracle of Fuglafjørður'…".

Herring Wars: Quotas, Conflicts, and Climate Change in the North Atlantic (via BoingBoing).

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Summer berries

JenniferTurns out that the woods right next to my apartment are filled to the brim with bilberries. Who knew?? Well, probably almost everyone except us. We had wondered about the odd unofficial looking paths leading through the woods... and now we know why they're there. They are so thick that on a warm day you can smell them.

(Bilberries, as you may recall from this earlier post, are pretty much the same as blueberries but not quite, and they grow on low bushes not high, so they're rather a pain to pick. But oh so tasty!)A few smultron (wild strawberries) are to be found also, not far from the bilberries.

 Meanwhile, our apartment complex maintains several currant bushes, both red and black. So the picture is is of my haul from a few day's ago, all of which was gathered within a 50meter walk from my front door. Life is good!

A funny little-kid-logic story about the red currants – the bushes are right next to a playground, and while I was sitting on the park bench picking a few, now and then tasting one, a grandmother-and-grandson and mother-and-son were in the playground. I heard the grandson ask his grandmother something about me, though I didn't catch it or her response. But I did clearly catch the next thing he said, which was "Perhaps they taste better when you're sitting down," which made both the grandma and mom laugh, and I had to laugh a little too. "He likes to pick them," his grandmother explained to the mom and me, "but he doesn't like to eat them."

Monday, July 8, 2013

My birthday cake

JenniferNote: This post entirely duplicates an album on Facebook, so if you're a friend of me there, you may if you like skip this. The whole thing about the cake was originally posted there, because that's where Cousin Carrie originally posted her recipe, and so I thought it was only fair to repost there so that she could see it. So, anyone else who's interested (*cough* MOM! *cough), please click here to see a slideshow, and be sure to read the captions, which explain what's going on.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

My birthday picnic outing

JenniferI took a long drive through the local nature reserve for myself to have a picnic on my birthday. Click on the photo gallery to see the pictures I took (too many), which are in order of the journey. I'd hoped to make a map of it but that function doesn't appear to be working at the moment... check back later, but I did want to get this up, before I forget. Most pictures are, sadly, unlabeled, but pretty. And I do at least list the picnic items on the picture shown to the here. Next up, a post about my birthday cake, which I had on the Fourth of July. It's a Whole Big Thing, as those of you who check Facebook may know...

Saturday, July 6, 2013

A quick musical summary of the country