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Cut back on fish
Thursday, 8 September 2011
It may sound like a fishy idea to some – not to eat fish for a whole month.
But according to organisers of the Fish Free August initiative, this campaign can make a huge difference to the world’s oceans, which are under severe threat.
The initiative has taken Facebook by storm, collecting more than 2000 attendees in a very short time, reports www.thegreentimes.co.za.
“Basically we started it as an attempt to raise awareness about the plight of the oceans. The idea is to give the oceans a break for just a month,” said Jessica Bonin, one of the founders of the initiative said.
Oceans are under threat with very few marine reserves existing worldwide. Warming coastal waters damage coral reefs and ocean systems and most maritime nations have few or no marine reserves at all.
“It’s amazing how many people are not aware of the state of our oceans,” Bonin continued. “Unfortunately, due to overfishing, pollution, irresponsible fishing of endangered fish, coastal overpopulation and poor ocean governance, our oceans are being depleted at an alarming rate.”
The Western Cape province is traditionally known as snoek country. Seeing fishermen selling their catches by the side of the road is as much a part of the scenery as the Winelands and the Cape Dutch architecture, but this is fast becoming a thing of the past.
For the past two years, the annual Snoek Derby, which used to be held in Hout Bay, either had to be postponed, delayed or cancelled as there was no snoek. Local stocks of the popular fish have all but dried up.
Overfishing is a serious global problem. The modern fishing industry is a vast killing and processing machine and 90% of the large fish, like tuna, swordfish, cod and halibut, have been wiped out.
The WWF’s Southern Africa Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) promotes sustainable fishing and consumption. It is hoping to institute a Fish Free Friday, when no fish in any shape, form or means is consumed on every Friday of the month.
Come on; try some vegetarian sushi this month instead of your usual salmon or tuna. The oceans will thank you!
Posted in: Blog, Climate Change
Michelle says:
8 September 2011 at 9:32 pm
Brilliant initiAtive. If you need some brain changing thoughts on what a desperate state our awesome oceans are in read: The protein crunch by Jason drew and David lorimer or website http://www.theproteincrunch.com. Another side to the fish story is the use of fishmeal which amounts to a third of all stock taken from the sea for feeding animals e.g. chickens, fish farming, etc. Which is then consumed by humans. A huge amount also goes into domestic animal feed and for industrial use. So the knock on effect is enormous. A good alternative to fish and fishmeal is soya.
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