Without healthy oceans – we are nothing. Take a look at our pick of  the best fish and ocean campaigns.

Help save an ocean species.

Stop the Clock on Species Extinction is the work of Conservation International, whose scientific research protects the world’s oceans from over-fishing, and pollution.

Conservation International writes…

If it’s raining where you are, the oceans played a role. If you drove to work, the seas are absorbing the carbon dioxide from your car. If you ordered seafood for lunch, it may have traveled halfway around the world to land on your plate.

No matter where you live on Earth, what you do affects the oceans – and what happens to the oceans affects you.

Oceans cover more than two-thirds of the world’s surface. In the past 50 years we have learned more about the Earth’s oceans than in all of preceding human history. But, at the same time we learned more, we lost more.

The amount of marine life we extract to feed ourselves is astronomical, and some of our fishing methods – dynamite fishing, bottom trawling, cyanide fishing, and other techniques – cause great damage to current and future fish stocks and to the underwater world in which they thrive. Today, 90 percent of the oceans’ top predators are gone. Entire populations of fish, and the communities and economies they support, have collapsed. Seafloors look like war zones. Corals have been bleached white from chemical runoff. Dead zones – vast swaths of ocean that can no longer support life – are spreading throughout the marine realm.

These critical issues don’t deter us. With our partners, we’ve embarked on a scientific mission that will tell us exactly where species and marine ecosystems are most threatened and what actions we can take to reverse them. Our research to date has already helped strengthen three protected “Seascapes” in critical marine areas around the world.

Protect your 2 hectares of ocean.

According to the End of the Line campaign, if you divide the surface of all the world’s oceans by the number of people on the planet – every person would have 2 hectares each. Now imagine if everyone protected their 2 hectares as if it were their own backyard. And that’s the idea behind this clever campaign – they’ve got  many ideas to help you do this. And don’t forget to check out the End of the Line film on Debate Your Plate TV.

End of the Line campaign writes:

The End of the Line is not against fishing. It is not against eating fish. But it is for a responsible attitude towards the oceans.

If the biological diversity of the oceans is to be maintained or restored, large areas must be protected altogether from the commercial fishing industry and responsible fishing must prevail outside those areas.

With some help from our friends at Google, we have created the map you can see here. Anyone willing to pledge their support to the campaign can lay claim to their 2 hectares.

Save the Whales

It may have become an environmental cliche but the Save the Whales movement has expertly highlighted the problem of whale hunting since its beginnings in 1977. However, in the last 20 or so years, the numbers of whales killed each year is on the increase. Norway, Iceland and Japan are the main countries continuing the slaughter, despite concerns from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and increasing clashes on the water with Sea Shepherd, the Marine Conservation organisation. Check out Sea Shepherd’s campaigns across the world – there are lots of ways to get involved.

Sea Shepherd writes…

In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) enacted a moratorium on all commercial whaling. Since then, three nations – Iceland, Norway, and Japan – have brutally slaughtered over 25,000 whales under the guise of scientific research and for commercial purposes. The IWC does not have the capacity to enforce the moratorium. Sea Shepherd, guided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature, is the only organization whose mission is to enforce these international conservation regulations on the high seas.

Highlights from our past three decades include:

• Ramming and disabling the notorious pirate whaler, the Sierra
• Shutting down half of the Spanish whaling fleet
• Documentation of whaling activities in the Faeroe Islands chronicled in the BBC documentary Black Harvest
• Scuttling half of the Icelandic whaling fleet and whale processing station
• Scuttling of the Norwegian whaling vessels Nybraena and Senet
• Confronting and opposing Japan’s illegal whaling in Antarctica

Sea Shepherd has gone on to end the careers of 9 illegal whaling vessels, saving thousands of whales. These campaigns and other Sea Shepherd efforts have kept the issue of whaling in the international spotlight for the past thirty years.

Sea Shepherd’s mission is to end the destruction of habitat and the slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.

Find out more:

Read

• Time magazine on the recent proposal by the IWC.

Eat fish with a clear conscience.

Rat on a restaurant that continues to serve endangered fish or nominate your favourite sustainable fishy eating out joint. This site is supported by both Greenpeace and the Marine Conservation Society. Check out Fish2fork.com

Save dolphins from slaughter in Japan.

Support the work of ex-dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry and his team, on The Cove. Check out The Cove documentary on Debate Your Plate TV.

The Cove writes…

The Cove exposes the slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises off the coast of Japan every year, and how their meat, containing toxic levels of mercury, is being sold as food in Japan and other parts of Asia, often labeled as whale meat. The majority of the world is not aware this is happening.  The focus of the Social Action Campaign for The Cove is to create worldwide awareness of this annual practice as well as the dangers of eating seafood contaminated with mercury and to pressure those in power to put an end to the slaughter.

And it’s been working. The film has been making waves since it premiered last year. Critical praise and audience awards worldwide have focused international attention on Taiji and the annual dolphin drives off the coast of Japan.  Under intense pressure, Taiji called for a temporary ban on killing bottlenose dolphins. The film, which was originally rejected, was shown at the Tokyo Film Festival due to public outcry. Residents in Taiji are being tested for mercury poisoning, and for the first time Japanese media are covering the issue.

Close to a million people have signed on to the campaign, but this is just the beginning. The fisherman are clearly rattled, but haven’t stopped killing dolphins.

Photo: Thanks to Mike Johnston on Flickr.

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