Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 16

16 years ago today, the James Cameron film Avatar debuted in theaters. While I have never seen any of the films in the series, I know that they carry with them an ecological message. I had been planning on focusing on a charity that supports the sustainability of our food supply and the effects on our ecosystem, so with today's date in history, I figured today is as good as any in my charitable giving themed Advent.

For today's Advent, I have selected the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation or ISSF for short. As someone employed in the culinary industry, being able to continually grow food is vital. The harder the item to come by, the more expensive it will cost. The more expensive our food becomes, the less customers will come to eat at your establishment and soon you find your restaurant closed. So a regenerative food supply is good for the human race and good for our planet as it promotes the health of the food chain.

The ISSF was founded in 2009 by a group of scientists, fisheries and other conservation organizations to 'undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks.' Thanks to the ISSF, a number of innovations have been made in reducing 'bycatch', a term for other fish and sea life that get caught in traps and nets used for the harvesting of specific seafood. They've helped replenish the bigeye tuna from an over-fished state and they've helped to establish catching limits based on scientific data and observations from fisherman to prevent over-fishing of other variety of tuna. The ISSF has also helped fisheries to commit to the banning of 'shark-finning'; the wasteful practice of cutting off a shark's fins for a God awful tasting soup and discarding the rest of the shark, where in having lost its ability to swim properly, sink to the ocean floor and die a slow death. 

The ISSF has a long way to go. The Asian market relies heavily on both tuna and shark fin for both local and  international sales and consumption. Japan refuses consistently to adhere to internationally agreement fishing limits on tuna because of the high demand of sushi and sashimi grade tuna. Current market rate for bluefin tuna, which is dangerously close to being listed as endangered, is around ¥17,000-20,000 ($244-$488) per kilogram!

The thing to consider is that once the bluefin supply is nearly exhausted, those fisheries that rely on tuna for sushi/sashimi grade sale are going to go after the yellow fin and other more plentiful varieties of tuna and the cycle will continue over and over and over until the ocean is just one big empty body of salt water.

If the food supply of our world's oceans and the sustainability of it's occupants are a top priority- nay, a concern!- of yours then I encourage you to donate to the ISSF here!

Fish Police #1 (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The main character of Fish Police is Inspector Gill. With his toboggan cap, vest and pencil thin whiskers, Gill looks like an underwater version of Frank Serpico. He's determined to bring down the organized crime cartel known as S.Q.U.I.D.. However, Gill also gets suckered into a lot of red herrings when many of the tips he receives are from beautiful dames.

The latest sultry siren to entice Gill into pursuing S.Q.U.I.D. is named Angelfish. She claims that her uncle is being forced into making illegal drugs for the gang and wants out. Gill is want to dismiss her until she reveals that her uncle has created a drug called Hairballs that can take it's users to another dimension where everyone walks on land with 2 legs. 

Inspector Gill has the strange feeling that he was originally from the surface world and sees Hairballs has a way of getting back to where he once belonged. The cop takes the assignment only to learn that Angelfish's uncle is perfectly happy where he is as a member of S.Q.U.I.D.. Instead of defecting, he wants the detective to bring back his niece Goldie into the fold. Goldie just happens to be the new receptionist at Gill's precinct and she loves being on the side of the good guys!

Fish Police debuted in a black and white format in 1985. Written and illustrated by Steve Moncuse, Fish Police was originally self-published by the creator's flag Fishwrap Productions. In 1987, Fish Police was picked up by Comico, starting at issue #12. The series soon found a new home with issue #17, being acquired by the Connecticut based Apple Press shortly after Comico declared bankruptcy. Apple would continue the series until 1991, culminating in issue #26. 

The idea of cops and robbers played out by seafood might seem rather ludicrous. However, the concept is done in a very mature, dark manner that shouldn't be confused as child's play. As part of Hanna-Barbera's attempt to produce more adult themed cartoons, Fish Police was adapted as a prime time sitcom in 1992. Airing on CBS, the show featured the voice talents of John Ritter, Ed Asner, and Tim Curry among others. 6 episodes were produced. However only 3 aired domestically before being quickly cancelled due to very low rating performances. 

From 1992-93, Marvel reprinted the first 6 issues of Fish Police in full color as a promotional tie-in for the animated series. With the show's abrupt end, Marvel also pulled the plug on the comic rather quickly. For the past 30 years, Steve Moncuse has teased plans for a Fish Police revival. Other than a short story that appeared in a 2013 issue of Dark Horse Presents, nothing new has been forthcoming.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #28 (A Story About Fish) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.