Let the Ocean Off the Hook: Part 2

In keeping with Neptune's Nachos excellent challenge 13, I present to you, challenge 14:

Stop polluting the oceans.

In addition to fishing the oceans to death (the ocean's death AND our own as a species), the ocean is also a beacon of plastic and other general trash. Our trash. Our idiot trash. Our idiot trash that also poisons the ocean to near deadly levels. Ocean acidification is also a disasterous problem.

So, as a challenge for the week, I propose that you stop poisoning the ocean. Sound good? Excellent. However, you might not know how to do that--so I'll hit you with some knowledge.

a. Individual actions are important. The personal choices that a person make can have real effects to restore the natural balance. Change your habits, then change the habits of the people around you, and so on and so on. Reduce (or stop altogether) the plastic use in your life. Think that plastic ends up in a landfill? It doesn't. Plastic waste often ends up in the ocean, when THIS happens:

 Why, is that all plastic waste? YES. Yes it is.

There are ISLANDS of plastic trash just floating around the ocean right now. ISLANDS. People think that when they throw something away, it goes away. But there is no 'away'. It ends up in our oceans, poisoning fish, marine eco systems, and then way on up the food chain--us. Stop using plastic. And if you must, make sure you use plastic that can be recycled--and then MAKE SURE IT GETS RECYCLED.

This, in addition, also has a lot of benefits for you as an individual. Think about it. Can't buy fast food because it's all useless, cancer petroleum coated plastic. So you don't but it. So you save 20 bucks. So you lose 5lbs. I don't see a loser here...

Never underestimate the importance of individual action...

b. ...but individual action isn't enough. Start signing petitions. Start going to protests. Start engaging in discussion with the people around you about these issues. Don't be rude. Don't be pushy. But if someone asks you, 'why won't you eat that?'. Just explain why calmy and with conviction. Remember, truth is on our side. We don't need to hire a million lobbyists to convince people that the ocean is running out of fish or that the oceans are polluted. They are running out of fish and they are polluted, It's corporate lobbyists who are trying to convince the general public otherwise. Be a solid, ocean loving, green individual, with an extra helping of activism.

c. Check out some key websites for further information. Visit and sign up on http://www.avaaz.org/en/index.php to be aware of tha latest petitions. Also join http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/ to be aware of excellent campaigns that you can join to help our oceans. Go to http://na.oceana.org/en/living-blue/ocean-heroes and sign up to be an ocean hero.

Remember: negative 'well, what difference will it make' attitudes will NOT suffice. If you are in a building, and the builing catches fire, and you cant get to the bottom exit. What would you do? Do you jump out of the second story window? Sure, it would hurt--hell, it might hurt a LOT. But you'll live. Or, do you say, 'well, the building is on fire anyway, so I'm just going to continue on as long as possible' and run up 6 stories to where there is no smoke yet? Sure, you might get another whole hour of danger free living, but when you DO have to jump---you won't make it. Not by a long shot. The strict changes greens propose now will ensure that we all survive the fall. Being green is hard. It takes sacrifice, and it sure as hell can cause anxiety. But in the end---it's worth it. A million times over.

Adieu

<3
ManicPanic

Ps. I know this is a million challenges for this week, but it's okay. You can handle it.

Let the Ocean Off the Hook

There actually aren’t more fish in the sea. Overfishing is quickly becoming one of the biggest global catastrophes in recent history.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 47% of global fish stocks are fully exploited, thus offering no reasonable expectations for further expansion, and another 18% are reported as overexploited.

The bottom line is: we’re exhausting one of the most volatile resources on the planet, and if we don’t stop soon, there won’t be any left. Many of the best-known species: bluefin tuna and cod, are expected to be extinct within the next few years.

We’re the stewards of the planet, and we can’t let these magnificent animals disappear from the earth forever. The ecological implications of extinction of certain species is staggering, the sudden disappearance of species like bluefin would have devastating results within marine ecosystems.

Today's fishing technology is highly elaborate. Fishing lines can reach as much as 120 km, complete with thousands of hooks. These hooks don’t only catch fish—Some trawlers reach 170 meters in length and can take on board the volume equivalent of 12 jumbo jets, and drift nets can exceed 60 km in length. These drift nets are catastrophic, sweeping up every life form in its reach: sharks, dolphins, turtles—even whales have been known to be victims of this destructive tactic.

Destructive bottom trawling involves powerful boats dragging heavy, weighted nets across the ocean floor to catch the maximum possible amount of bottom-dwelling life. Trawling decimates everything in its path, namely coral, which takes millennia to develop. Scientists estimate coral will be extinct within the next twenty years. Coral is one of the major players in cancer research, and has shown the potential to reverse the disease. Protecting this species is vital to saving millions of lives.

If extinction doesn’t scare you, let’s look at the impact on human populations.

An estimated one billion people, mostly in low-income countries, depend on fish as their primary source of food. Most of these low-income fisherman can’t compete with the super-trawlers and fishing industries of first-world countries fishing their waters. Our seemingly insatiable appetite is sending negative shockwaves through more than just schools of fish. If we continue to fish at our current rate, we’ll be facing the biggest global health crisis in history—millions of people will starve to death, and that’s not an exaggeration.

Will you let that happen on your watch?


Challenge #13: Make sustainable seafood choices and educate yourself about overfishing.

What you can do:

Join Monteray Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch. Get access to pamphlets, seafood guides and apps.

Watch End of the Line, a documentary about overfishing.

Avoid supporting these stores