Gone fishin’—piloting community supported fisheries at Google

Google Green blog, 7/29/11

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

I've always loved the ocean—I was born in Shanghai, which means "upon the sea.” And as a chef, I'm always drawn to food that claims a spirit of place. After moving to California, near Half Moon Bay, I began visiting the docks to buy seafood, and got to know the fishermen.

Over time, it became evident to me that this part of our food supply is broken: many consumers purchase stale, unsustainably-raised fish from chain grocers. Meanwhile, fishermen often sell their diminishing catch to wholesalers at a very low profit, meaning their livelihoods are no longer sustained by their catch. There’s also the environmental factor to consider: Overfishing and illegal practices cause worldwide decline in ocean wildlife populations and wreak havoc on underwater habitats—not to mention the carbon footprint of transporting seafood far from its origin.

Google’s chefs have long been committed to sourcing food for our cafes as locally, seasonally and organically as possible. And in our Mountain View headquarters, many employees cook with the same ingredients at home thanks to on-site Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs. When I joined the team as an executive chef in Mountain View, I wanted to make a difference in our purchasing program for seafood. For the five years leading up to then, I wrote a column for the San Francisco Chronicle called “Seafood by the Season,” and I knew it could be done. In early 2010, we began a push to apply the most rigorous standards to our seafood-buying practices, and respond to the in-the-moment fluctuations of the catch from small, independent fishermen.

Things took off from there. My colleague Quentin Topping dreamed of providing the same high-quality seafood we serve in our cafes for Googlers to take home to their families. That idea became the Google Community Supported Fishery (CSF), which we launched in May 2011. In this program, Googlers sign up to purchase a weekly supply of local, sustainable seafood, supplied through a partnership with the Half Moon Bay (HMB) Fisherman’s Association.

The Google Culinary team on a visit with fishermen in Half Moon Bay,
Calif. — Quentin and I are the second and third from the left, in black.

We tend to think on a massive scale at Google—whether it’s how to deliver instant search results around the globe or help thousands of small businesses get online—but when it comes to feeding our employees at work and at home, it really comes down to a local touch. Knowing where our seafood, meat and produce come from, as well as knowing how they’re raised, farmed or harvested, makes all the difference in the on-the-ground work of sustainability. We see many bright spots ahead for our Community Supported Agriculture and Fishery programs, such as expansion to other offices and adding a grass-fed beef and pasture-raised poultry program. It’s exciting to work someplace where we can think big and local.

We know of two CSFs in the Bay Area. The Half Moon Bay Fishermen’s Association supplies only Google at the moment, but will soon add public drop-off sites—keep posted by visiting Farmigo.com. The other is CSea out of Bodega Bay. If you live elsewhere, we hope you’ll consider stepping up to create one in your area.

And even if you don’t live near the ocean or have direct access to fresh-caught seafood, the choices you make about what fish to purchase or order in restaurants can make a real difference. You may want to consider following the guidelines that we used for our Google Green Seafood policy: Whenever possible, purchase species caught locally and in-season, by small, independent fisher-families, using environmentally-responsible methods. We think it’s important to be responsive to the fluctuations of catch too, and source from fisheries that enforce catch limits or are guided by ecosystem-based management programs. As for us, we’ll continue to research and source responsibly managed farmed seafood, and always keep transparency and Googler health at the center of our program.

Posted by Liv Wu, Executive Chef

Hospital ship KRI Soeharso sent to Mentawai

Antara News, Wednesday, October 27, 2010 20:35 WIB

Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA News) - The naval hospital ship KRI Dr Soeharso has cancelled a journey to Wasior, Papua, and is now preparing to sail to Mentawai to help tsunami victims there.

Naval hospital ship KRI Dr Soeharso

"The ship was supposed to leave today for Wasior but last night the commander of the National Defense Forces (TNI) told the navy chief of staff to cancel the plan and ordered it to go to Mentawai instead," Eastern Fleet Command spokesman Lt Col Yayan Sugiana said here on Wednesday.

The hospital ship is scheduled to leave for Mentawai on Thursday morning and would be there for a month.

"The ship was initially scheduled to conduct a humanitarian mission in Wasior (recently hit by flash floods) for a month. So its task in Mentawai will be the same," he said.

The ship would carry logistics such as food, beverages and medical supplies initially allocated for flood victims in Wasior.

The ship will also carry navy personnel and 22 doctors and nurses experienced in varius disciplines.

He said the Esatern Fleet Command is still waiting for further orders from the TNI commander and the navy chief of staff on assigning more ships to Mentawai.

"For the time being we will send one because three naval ships from the Western Fleet command have already been sent there," he said.

Five naval ships from the Eastern fleet command are now still in Wasior including the KRI Kalakay that carried logistical supplies from Manokwari, Papua.

Several ship crews carry aid into KM Labobar ship at Teluk Bayur port in Padang, West Sumatra, on Friday. Bad weather had hampered distribution of aid and volunteers from Jakarta and Padang to tsunami-hit Mentawai Islands. (JP / Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)

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2,000-Year Old Greek Shipwreck Reveals Medical Secrets of the Ancient World

The Daily Galaxy, September 12, 2010

Twenty years ago, Archaeologists discovered a ship created In 130 BC from wood of walnut trees and bulging with a cargo hold of medicial pills and Syrian glassware, that sank off the coast of Tuscany Italy.

For the first time archaeobotanists have been able to examine and analyse the pills that were prepared by the physicians of ancient Greece. DNA analyses show that each millennia old tablet is a mixture of more than ten different plant extracts; from hibiscus to celery. Most of the medicines are still completely dry according to Robert Fleischer of the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.

“For the first time, we have physical evidence of what we have in writing from the ancient Greek physicians Dioscorides and Galen,” stated Alain Touwaide of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Fleischer analysed DNA fragments in two of the pills and compared the sequences to the GenBank genetic database maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He was able to identify: carrot, radish, celery, wild onion, oak, cabbage, alfalfa and yarrow. He also found hibiscus extract that was probably imported from east Asia or the lands of present day India or Ethiopia.

“Most of these plants are known to have been used by the ancients to treat sick people,” says Fleischer. Yarrow staunched the flow of blood from wounds, and Pedanius Dioscorides, a physician and pharmacologist in Rome in the first century AD, described the carrot as a panacea for a number of problems. “They say that reptiles do not harm people who have taken it in advance; it also aids conception,” he wrote around 60 AD.

The concoctions also provided the archaeobotanists a few surprises. Preliminary analyses suggest they contain sunflower, a plant that is not thought to have existed in the Old World before Europeans discovered the Americas in the 1400s. If the finding is confirmed, botanists may need to revise the traditional history of the plant and its diffusion, says Touwaide – but it’s impossible for now to be sure that the sunflower in the pills isn’t simply from recent contamination.

Drugs described by Dioscorides and another Greek physician known as Galen of Pergamon have often been dismissed as ineffectual quackery. “Scholars and scientists have often dismissed the literature on such medicines, and expressed doubt about their possible efficacy, which they attributed only to the presence of opium,” says Touwaide. He hopes to resolve this debate by exploring whether the plant extracts in the pills are now known to treat illnesses effectively.

He also hopes to discover therian, a medicine described by Galen in the second century AD that contains more than 80 different plant extracts and document the exact measurements ancient doctors used to manufacture the pills. “Who knows, these ancient medicines could open new paths for pharmacological research,” says Touwaide.

The team presented their findings at the Fourth International Symposium on Biomolecular Archaeology in Copenhagen, Denmark.

South Korean diver missing in Bali

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 09/05/2010 4:57 PM

Search workers were still looking for a South Korean tourist who went missing when he dived in Tanjung Benoa, Bali, on Saturday.

Denpasar Search and Rescue head of operation I Gde Ketut Ardana told Antara news agency that the South Korean, identified only as Kim (30), went missing during a diving activity with a local instructor on Saturday afternoon.

The instructor, Beruntung, told the police that he thought that the South Korean was tagging along behind him for around 20 minutes before he realized the tourist was gone.

Ardana said that the joint search would continue for the next seven days.

Legislator's wife found dead off Bali beach

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 09/05/2010 2:25 PM

Bali legislator Anak Agung Gede Agung Baratha (61) was found unconscious and his wife Nanik Wirna (58) dead on Gianyar waters in Bali after both were dragged out to sea by waves earlier Sunday.

Gianyar City Police chief Adj. Comr. I Gede Putu Astawa told kompas.com that Baratha was found on Selukat Beach while his wife was found in Lebih beach on late Sunday morning.

Baratha and the body of his wife have been take to Sanjiwani Hospital.

The couples were reportedly strolling on Sedayu Beach in Klungkung earlier in the day, with their chauffeur and assistants, when a big wave hit them and dragged them out to sea.

Mystery as ‘corkscrew’ kills Scottish seals

Daily Mail, By MAIL ON SUNDAY REPORTER, 15th August 2010

Dozens of seals are dying from unexplained ‘corkscrew’ injuries, prompting the launch of a Scottish Government investigation.

Seven incidents involving common and grey seals, such as the one pictured below, were reported in the past two months alone in St Andrews Bay and the Firth of Forth, Scottish officials said.

Carcasses washed ashore showing a single, smooth-edged cut starting at the head and spiralling around the body. Experts do not believe the injuries were caused by fishing nets or boat propellers.

'Strange deaths': Seven incidents involving common and grey seals were reported in Scotland in the last two months

Environment Minister Richard Lochhead said: ‘It’s critical that we establish the cause of these strange deaths and do all we can to protect our seal populations, particularly as numbers have reduced in recent years. I would encourage anyone who encounters a seal carcass to contact the Sea Mammal Research Unit.’

In total, 33 seals have washed up along the east coast of England and Scotland, including six in St Andrews Bay and the Firth of Forth in 2008 and 2009.

Similar incidents have been reported in Norfolk and off the Canadian coast.

Mr Lochhead has asked scientists from the University of St Andrews to investigate.

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Mercy visit

The Jakarta Post, Antara, Jakarta | Wed, 07/07/2010 7:27 PM

Mercy visit: The US Navy's USNS Mercy hospital ship docks in the Gulf of Jakarta on Wednesday. The ship will take part in the Sail Banda 2010, which is scheduled to run from late July to August. Antara/Fanny Octavianus

KRI Soeharso to conduct Humanitarian mission in Maluku

Antara News, Saturday, July 3, 2010 16:55 WIB

KRI dr Soeharso 990 - kapal rumah sakit milik TNI-AL (photo : Marinir)

Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Navy floating hospital KRI dr. Soeharso-990 will conduct a humanitarian mission in Ambon, Maluku for about six weeks.

Chief of Navy Eastern Fleet Command for public information Major Kariono said here on Saturday that the war ship turned floating hospital would take part in Surya Baskara Jaya health operation service in Maluku as part of Sail Banda 2010 civic mission.

"The Surya Baskara Jaya health service activity at Maluku waters is part of international marine event of Sail Banda 2010," Kariono said.

He said the navy personnel on board KRI Soeharso who join the Surya Baskara Jaya operation would give free health services such as a general treatment, dental treatment, minor and major surgeries, and other medical treatments for the people of coastal and remote areas in Maluku.

"It is the realization of the attention form the Navy and the country to the people at coastal and remote areas who have so far found it difficult to get adequate health services," Kariono said.

KRI dr. Soeharso-990 is a ship with facility equal to B Class Hospital which is completed by Emergency Installation, polyclinic, surgery room, ICU, and treatment room.

This KRI is also used to support program in remote areas, coasts, islands, and the border (DTPK) cooperating with other related ministries.

KRI dr. Soeharso-990 will join Singapore` Navy floating hospital RSS Endeavor and US Navy floating hospital USNS Mercy T-AH 19 to Sail Banda civic mission in Maluku.

On Saturday, July 3, KRI Suharso and USNS Mercy will sail to Buru Island in Central Maluku district and then to Ambon and several other target areas," Wiranto said.

A number of scout personnel, students, youths, medical personnel and paramedics on board the three floating hospitals would give medical and social services to the people living in coastal areas in small islands in the provinces of Maluku and North Maluku.

"USNS Mercy" to arrive in Ambon July 29

Antara News, Wednesday, May 26, 2010 18:21 WIB

Ambon, Maluku (ANTARA News) - The United States Navy`s floating hospital, USNS Mercy T-AH-19, is expected to arrive here on July 29, 2010 to support the Surya Baskara Jaya health services operation in Maluku.

Maluku Health Office chief Ms Fat bassalamah said here on Wednesday , the US Navy`s floating hospital would berth at Ambon`s Yos Sudarso pier until August 3, 2010.

"The USNS Mercy will berth at Yos Sudarso pier from July 29 until August 3 to help make Surya Baskara Jaya health service operation a success," Bassalama said, adding that the operation was actually already started last April.

She said the presence of the USNS Mercy would be the realization of the US Navy`s social concern for the people of Maluku to get free medical services as part of the international marine event of Sail Banda 2010.

"The 273-meter long USNS Mercy T-AH-19 with 956 medical personnel and doctors is arguably the most sophisticated vessel in its class to assist the Indonesian Navy`s KRI Dr Soeharso in giving medical services to the people of Maluku," she said.

Bassalamah said the KRI Dr Soeharso and USNS Mercy would give free medical services to people in Ambon while the same was to be done by the Sailing Medical Service (SMS) in the districts of Buru Selatan, West Southeast Maluku (MTB), and Southwest Maluku (MBD).

"In addition, Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore will also send their hospital ships to join the KRI Dr Soeharso and USNS Mercy in the health services operation in the province.

The third-generation USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) is the lead ship in her her class of hospital ships in the United States Navy.

She was named after the virtue of compassion. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, the USNS Mercy and her crew do not carry any ordnance. Firing on the Mercy is considered a war crime.

The Mercy was originally buildt an oil tanker named SS Worth by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, California, in 1976.

In July 1984, she was renamed and converted into a hospital ship by the same company.

Launched on 20 July 1985, the USNS Mercy was commissioned on November 8, 1986.

She has a raised forecastle, a transom stem, a bulbous bow, an extended deck house with a forward bridge, and a helicopter-landing deck with a flight control facility.

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Indonesian NGO Plans to Enter Gaza by Sea to Build Hospital

Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari, April 04, 2010

The Medical Emergency Rescue Committee hopes to move forward with a plan to build a medical facility in the Gaza Strip by entering the conflict area by sea, a founder of the independent health group said on Sunday.

Joserizal Jurnalis said Mer-C had sent an envoy to Turkey for talks with delegations from international nongovernmental organizations regarding the plan to enter Gaza and build a trauma and rehabilitation center.

“We have collected Rp 13 billion [$1.43 million] to build the hospital,” Joserizal told the Jakarta Globe. “Now we are trying to get into the area.”

Joserizal said Mer-C was cooperating with a Turkish humanitarian relief foundation called Insani Yardim Vakfi to get assistance into Gaza. The current plan is to go in by ship.

Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have escalated in recent weeks, as warplanes launched strikes on what the military had tagged weapons storage sites.

Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman for the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, said it had urged Israel to stop harming civilians with its air raids because it would hamper peace efforts between Israel and Palestine.

“What they did was a violation of international law,” he said. “Israel’s use of military force will leave a great impact on local people.”

Teuku said Indonesia was ready to support any efforts from independent groups to push for peace in Palestine.

Joserizal said Mer-C would use all possible means to build the medical facility in Gaza. The Indonesian government, he said, had agreed to donate Rp 9 billion for its construction. He said the group had met with State Secretary Sudi Silalahi in March to discuss the construction plan.

The design for a trauma and rehabilitation center had been finished, he said.

Permits to enter Gaza, he said, remained the biggest obstacle for the group to build the facility. However, Joserizal said Mer-C and several international NGOs now were planning to acquire a vessel and enter the area by sea.

Last year, Indonesia provided Rp 20 billion to help fund the construction of a new hospital in Gaza.