According to Jennifer Jacquet of Shifting Baselines, tilapia are going underground and possibly into space. Four teachers from Arizona have discovered a way to farm the fish underground in Arizona. And NASA has conducted studies on growing tilapia for human settlements on Mars, since “tilapia eat human waste and are safe for human consumption afterward.”
Though a little disconcerting because of toilet-to-plate feeling, tilapia are handy like that. As a meat eater with notions of environmental responsibility, I think that tilapia are one of the best options for cheap, tasty sustainable protein. (Well, I don’t think they’re THAT tasty, but with lots of butter and garlic…).
Tilapia sure is better for people’s health and the ocean than tuna, another common source of cheap fishy protein. Tuna are top predators with high mercury contamination. Though tuna these days may be “dolphin-safe,” the purse seine fishery continues to have huge bycatch problems, especially sharks and turtles.
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