Leading article: Small fry
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Less cod, more anchovies.
That's the message from Villy Christensen, of the University of British Columbia, who says that our appetite for large fish is leading to an imbalance in marine ecosystems.
While we deplete the oceans of bigger predatory species such as cod, tuna, swordfish and groupers, the smaller fish that make up their diet are multiplying. The solution, we are told, is to increase our consumption of "forager fish" such as sardines, anchovies, pilchards and herrings.
It makes scientific sense, but it might be a difficult message for us British to act on because Mr Christensen is effectively asking us to pick on the little guys. Plus, these smaller fish have not traditionally been a fixture in our diets in the way they have in other countries.
Still, perhaps we can find a way around that. Whitebait, stargazy pie, Worcestershire sauce: we do have our uses for small, oily fish. So let's do our bit for the balance of the oceans and fill our plates with the little guys.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments