Who doesn’t love mystery meat? Oh, for the days of the school lunch, the odd grayish-brown lump slapped onto your tray by the loving hand of a hair-netted cafeteria lady. Such a treat! Now, our state legislators have a chance to honor that memory by refusing to require labeling of genetically engineered salmon. Cool, right? Remember the discussion about GE salmon labeling? (Refresher here.)

Salmon… or is it?

Yes, California’s state Assembly votes tomorrow on AB 88, a bill which would require labeling of all GE salmon sold in the state, on whether consumer rights – that’s us, folks – are as important as the profit motives of the biotech industry. In all seriousness, it’s time to make your voice heard! Start here, then call our state legislators. Be pro-label. As the bill’s author, Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D –San Rafael), pointed out in a Dec. 21, 2011 Times-Standard My Word column, in addition to the threat posed to wild salmon when GE salmon escaped its pens, “selling the GE fish as ‘salmon, would confuse consumers and undermine prices for the commercial salmon fishing industry.”

Last November, wild salmon were found infected with a deadly, contagious virus spread by farmed fish. The Northcoast Environmental Center joins Humboldt Baykeeper in urging action. Look out for our fish, our fishermen and our right to know what the heck we’re eating.

Other news on the fish front: Marine protected areas created under the Marine Life Protection Act went live on Jan. 1 down in Southern California, the third region in the statewide coastal network of underwater parks. The stakeholder-designed plan for our region, the North Coast, is currently undergoing environmental review with a draft Environmental Impact Report expected to hit the streets in a few weeks and likely to be revisited by California’s Fish & Game Commission at their April meeting in Eureka. A celebration of Underwater Park Day takes place this Saturday, Jan. 1 throughout the regions already home to protected areas – I look forward to highlighting our new reserves and conservations areas along our coast for Underwater Parks Day, 2013.

As someone often found on the beach – walking my sweet old dog, considering the waves, plucking up plastic bags and other trash along the waveslope – I’m often asked about the Japanese tsunami debris expected to hit our shores at some point. First, as terrible an environmental catastrophe as the earthquake and tsunami were, we should remember, this is not just “debris,” but, in many cases, the pieces of people’s destroyed lives. As a result of that March, 2011 disaster, over 15,000 people lost their lives and thousands more are having to rebuild. Second, the potential damage to our ocean from the estimated 25 million tons of debris can scarcely be fathomed. Oceanographers estimate the debris has scattered throughout the ocean across an area the size of California. Some has washed up earlier than expected on the Olympic Peninsula. NOAA expects we’ll see tsunami debris locally sometime next year.

We can’t do much to stop it, but what we can do to reduce our own contribution to the ocean garbage problem? I get disheartened at times, driving south on the Samoa Peninsula, looking at the ever-accumulating litter. I’ve cleaned up plenty, as have my surfer friends, but as long as people keep tossing cigarette butts and food wrappers out their car windows, and using the beach as a dumping ground for household trash, our local environment suffers. (See this story in the Arcata Eye on Ted Halstead, Liscom Slough champion, for more on the abuse of our Humboldt waterways.)

Mmmmm… trash!

So what can ocean-lovers do? Get hands-on by attending one of Humboldt Surfrider’s monthly beach or highway cleanups. Encourage your smoker friends to dispose of cigarette butts appropriately, not on the ground. (Or to quit smoking!) Support legislation aimed at reducing single-use items such as plastic bags, bottles and straws – and opt for reducing and reusing in your own life! Advocate for widespread solutions to the marine debris problem on a national level. Educate yourself about our bay, rivers, marshes and beaches by listening to Coastal Currents today and every Wednesday on KHUM 104.3/104.7 FM and attending one of the events below:

Saturday, Jan. 21 – Underwater Parks Day!

Audubon Society Marsh Field Trip 8:30 a.m. Meet at the parking lot at the end of South I Street. Led by Pat Bitton. Bring binoculars and have a great morning birding. Trip held rain or shine. 442-9353.

Manila Dunes Restoration 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Manila Community Center, 1611 Peninsula Drive, Arcata. Morning of invasive plant removal. Bring water, wear comfortable work clothes. tools, gloves and cookies provided. 444-1397.

Friends of the Marsh Tour 2 p.m. Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary Interpretive Center, 600 S. G St. Meet leader Art Barab for a 90-minute walk focusing on marsh history and ecology. 826-2359.