A recent report co-authored by FERU’s Dr. Sumaila proposes that the conventional wisdom that Omega3 fatty acids found in fish oils benefit one’s health may not be as sound as we thought. The report titled “Are dietary recommendations for the use of fish oils sustainable?” not only questions the science behind recommending high consumption of fish oils to improve our health, but suggests that recommending diets high in fish puts extra stress on a global resource that is already feeling a lot of pressure. Regarding recommendations for increased fish consumption, Sumaila is quoted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) saying:
If this high demand for fish continues, given the limited supplies, we are pushing the envelope and that can lead to problems in the near future for us and also for our children and grandchildren.
This story has been very popular and has been picked up by a great number of news agencies around the world. In fact, CBC coverage of the paper is just one of eighty-three news agencies to report on the subject. Congratulations to the article’s authors; Jenkins, Sievenpiper, Pauly, Sumaila, Kendall, and Mowat, for their very successful contribution.
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More information about this paper can be found on this site and an archived PDF of the CBC coverage is available here.