Interesting Links for 26-04-2021

[andrewducker]

Downing Street flat refurbishment: What is the row all about?

(tags:UK BorisJohnson conservatives money )

German gymnasts' outfits take on sexualisation in sport

(tags:women sex clothing sports Germany )

The salmon you buy in the future may be farmed on land

(tags:fish farming technology )

I am delighted and very amused that Trent Reznor just won an Oscar for a Disney film

(tags:Disney TrentReznor music Pixar Oscars )

India Covid: Anger as Twitter ordered to remove critical virus posts

(tags:India Twitter criticism censorship )

Brexit: Sales of milk and cream to EU down 96% and chicken and beef by almost 80%

(tags:uk europe trade doom milk meat )

Comments

[anna_wing]

The sustainability of land-based aquaculture (ie its ability to consistently make a profit while complying with relevant local environmental regulations) would presumably depend entirely on the location, the technology used, the local regulatory environment, and the variety of fish in question. From everything I've heard, the capital cost is high, but the running costs and product wastage can both be lower, sometimes substantially lower, than in open-sea aquaculture.

[lilysea]

Salmon farms in the ocean have significant issues with

transmission of disease between farmed and wild salmon [both directions]

seals breaking in and eating the farmed salmon

land based farms would really help with both issues.

[andrewducker]

I foresee attacks by bands of roving seals on motorbikes. Or roller skates.

[danieldwilliam]

Fish farms on land, usually tilapia (sp?) are often mentioned as part of a vertical farming set up. I think the idea is that the fish eat the by-products from the fruit and veg farm.

Cost-wise I could see how land based farms might be cheaper to operate (less disease, fewer seals for starters). Any thing done in the wager is harder and more expensive - especially saltwater. Or I could see that it might not be that cheap after all.

I think all of the salmon farms in Scotland are in sea-lochs. I assume most Scandinavian ones are in fjords. So close to shore and in sheltered waters. Not sure how that affects the costs of operation compared to big fancy tanks on land.

[anna_wing]

The Chilean ones are down by the Lake District, and take advantage of the Humboldt Current, which is apparently better for the fish. Unfortunately, it also brings sea-lions (which in Chilean Spanish are lobos del mar, sea-wolves).

Chilean smoked salmon is very good.

[danieldwilliam]

I shall keep an eye out for Chilean smoked salmon but it's pretty difficult to get anything other than Scottish salmon here, obviously.

[anna_wing]

Scottish seafood is lovely! I had a very nice weekend at Poolewe once, visiting the gardens, and the towns around, and eating at assorted seafood places.

Chilean fruit is fabulous too. Marks&Spencer in London had Chilean cherries in January/February, and they're the best.

[danieldwilliam]

The seafood is one of the great delights of living here.

My favourite experience was visting Oban and going out for dinner in a restaurant on the quay. We'd watched the catch being landed off the boat earlier that day. It was so nice that my wife even ate scallops which she otherwise considers too bouncy to be a food.

[rangifer]

I assume most Scandinavian ones are in fjords.

Sure. What a fjord is, exactly, is a bit of a semantic can of worms, but in Norway that'd certainly be the case. I'd imagine Denmark as well, because Danish fish farming is concentrated in Jutland. I'm not clear on the Swedish situation. I know a Swedish company wants to jump on the land-farm bandwagon and I know there was some vague discussion in Norway about doing the same, around half a decade ago, but I have no idea if it went anywhere.

[danieldwilliam]

I believe Sweden has lots and lots of island - so lots of sheltered places near to land to put fish farms.

[danieldwilliam]

In what way is fjord a semantic can of worms.

(I've always thought of a fjord as what I'd all a sealoch.)

[rangifer]

The Wikipedia article has a good summary. Basically it boils down to Scandinavian usage (apparently) being a touch broader than the English usage.

[dewline]

It really would help with both issues, I think. If properly regulated. We've had enough in-ocean contamination effects.

This land-based farming of wet things

[lsanderson]

Always seems to be the next big thing coming down the pike, except for the problem of making money. It's like the revival of the American chestnut, which gets announced every 5-10 years in American media.

Gymnastic Wardrobe

[dewline]

Women and girls have had more than enough of this crap re: their wardrobe choice. Especially the "choice" that gets imposed upon them, I suspect.

[ninetydegrees]

"German gymnasts' outfits take on sexualization in sport"

Go, women! Maybe we'll finally see some change in ice skating too...

[anna_wing]

Yes! Women's ice-skating costumes, whether ice-dance or pairs, are deeply silly. Though for some high-level pairs competitions, I've seen them in full-body suits like the men, it wouldn't be a huge innovation.


I asked my ballroom dance sifu once why women's ballroom dance costumes were so insanely frou-frou, and he said that it was partly tradition, and partly because it helped to hide mistakes. Which actually made some sense...

[anef]

I really like the full length gym outfits - they look so much more professional.

[andrewducker]

They really do.