SDG Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/oceans/
I
was reminded of our destruction in the oceans last week when watching
seaspiracy on Netflix that chronicled the many adverse impacts from
overfishing:
- ·
Bycatch: long-line trawling
is indiscriminate and also takes many seabirds
- ·
Plastics from nets: hard to know true stats as differing
figures but 20-46% of plastics in the oceans come from ships and there is no
regulation of this rather all the anti-plastic actions are land focussed.
- ·
Bottom trawling: destruction of seagrasses, kelp, reefs and surface
species,
- ·
Endangered species: many species are now at endangered levels
- ·
Unregulated fishing (illegal): who is patrolling our open
oceans; Sea Shepherd does this as an NGO but are branded eco-terrorists as a
result;
- ·
Human slavery and lawlessness: fisherman on large fishing
vessels are low paid or even indentured labourers and anyone who tries to
escape can be killed without recourse (no one investigates someone dying at
sea!).
Over
the years I’ve watched ocean docos and subscribe to Parley for the Oceans https://www.parley.tv/ but I must admit the state
of the oceans has been relegated down the list of my concerns. Despite living
on the coast and loving swimming the dire state of the ocean has been in the
out of sight out of mind category and moreso in our media and conversations.
People
including myself have been increasingly saying that we will take advantage of
technology to preserve our world. Sure electric cars, renewables, bioplastics
will undoubtedly help our path ahead but I know that is not the real issue. We have
enough technology now but we don’t have the conscience and vision. We live in a
small village and everyone can contribute but the window is very short. It is
not tomorrow but it is now that we must act.
So
am motivated to review the latest info and take some action. Interesting to
challenge friends who think eating fish is a positive and what that might mean
and to investigate the source of our seafood. Australian industry is certainly
much more regulated than elsewhere and certainly recreational fishing isn’t
really the big issue but the state of the international fishing industry seems
outrageous on so many levels. It is also interesting to see the role of seaweed and kelp in being a source of protein and how we can sustainably grow and harvest this as an alternate crop to feed the world and reduce ocean acidification.
Branding
such as MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) used by Coles (https://www.coles.com.au/about-coles/supporting-aussie-producers/farm-to-store/seafood)
and others is an interesting one – Seaspiracy is critical as they draw their
funding from the companies who pay a fee to use their brand so there is an
obvious conflict of interest and how much regulation goes on seems difficult to
get an accurate picture on.
The
Federal Govt announced $100M investment in oceans though the focus is upon our
coastal waters and not on international fishing issues: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/australia-announces-100-million-initiative-protect-our-oceans#:~:text=Minister%20for%20the%20Environment%2C%20Sussan,as%20deliver%20significant%20environmental%20outcomes
Interesting
docos on Netflix: A Plastic Ocean; Seaspiracy (Netflix); Racing extinction
and the Academy Award winner that amazed me on realising how fascinating
octopus can be My Octopus
Teacher
Some
other good resources include:
WWF
https://www.wwf.org.au/what-we-do/oceans/overfishing#gs.z4gi7o
Plastics
in the ocean: https://sloactive.com/plastic-pollution/
Ocean
generation (UK): https://www.oceangeneration.org/
So
in Active Hope terms,
I’m
grateful for the life within the oceans
– the beauty, the way it sustains life outside oceans and to keep our
atmosphere clean and functional and for the people who work towards ocean
regeneration.
Honour the pain – I acknowledge the
destruction we have wreaked in the ocean – the mass extinctions, the
overfishing, the acidification process, the warming, the pollution and humanity’s
general disregard for ocean life.
A new way of seeing: Paul Watson (Sea Shepherd
legend) says ‘If the oceans die, we die’. I need to avoid the out of sight out
of mind view and elevate the importance of the oceans in our thinking.
Going forth I’m motivated to have
conversations and investigate ways of taking action. To be informed and spending
time by the ocean.
