Do we need to eat fish THAT badly?

I haven't written in a long time but reading this New York Times article got me thinking like a blogging vegetarian again.

The article, headed "From Deep Pacific, Ugly and Tasty, With a Catch," talks about the Hoki fish, a white fish drawn from the seas off of New Zealand that has become a fish fillet favorite with food giants McDonald's, Denny's, Long John Silver's, etc.

While I have yet to find anyone that actually craves Long John Silver's delicacies (how exactly do all those franchises stay standing on their peg leg?) the fact that the 'ugly' Hoki fish, once undesirable eating, is now near the point of being completely eradicated only reaffirms my decision to think of alternative ways to eat good food.

Do we really need to have a daily supply of McDonald's fish fillet sandwiches, most of which sits under a heating lamp waiting to be thrown out? Is that luxury worth fish "population declines, ecosystem damage and the accidental killing of skates [rays] and sharks" as Broad writes in the article?

I don't think so, but that's just me.