three steps to heaven

[dublin laddie]

The Campaign
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.

The film has three messages for consumers, citizens and companies:

Ask before you buy:
only eat sustainable seafood.
Tell politicians:
respect the science, cut the fishing fleet
Join the campaign
for marine protected areas and responsible fishing

We hope that when people buy fish in a shop or in restaurant, they will ask where it comes from; whether it is from a sustainable source, whether it is an endangered or over-exploited species.

There are useful guides to what fish you can buy with a (fairly) clear conscience. In the UK one is produced by the Marine Conservation Society. You can find the guide on their website.

In the USA, the Monterey Bay Aquarium issues one. You can click through from here. Seafood Watch Program | A Consumer's Guide to Sustainable Seafood | Monterey Bay Aquarium

And the Marine Stewardship Council runs a certification scheme for fish produced according to principles of sustainability, which you can find out about on the MSC website

But we also want people to put pressure on politicians to listen to the scientists and act upon their recommendations. Write to your representative. Sign up to our Pledges.

And, finally, join the campaign to make more of the oceans protected areas, where industrial fishing is not allowed and where fish stocks can replenish themselves.

At the moment only 3 per cent of the world's oceans are marine protected areas.

You can learn more about why they should be increased and those who are campaigning for them, on the websites on our Organisations page.




The End of the Line :: Home Page

[dublin laddie]

Fish Facts



One billion people rely on fish as an important source of protein. - WWF

An international group of ecologists and economists warned that the world will run out of seafood by 2048 - Washington Post

The looming collapse of fisheries threatens the most important source of food for 250 million people. - The Earth's Carrying Capacity - Bruce Sundquist

According to the UNFAO, about 70 per cent of our global fisheries are now being fished close to, already at, or beyond their capacity. - The Earth's Carrying Capacity - Bruce Sundquist

As many as 90 per cent of all the ocean's large fish have been fished out. - WWF

one per cent of the world's Industrial fishing fleets account for 50 per cent of the world's catches. - CNN

Government subsidies of over $15 billion a year play a major role in creating the worlds fishing fleets.- WWF

The global fishing fleets are 250 per cent larger than the oceans can sustainably support.- WWF

Only 0.6 per cent of the world’s oceans are designated as protected.- WWF

A Greenpeace report states that 40 per cent of the world’s oceans should be placed in nature reserves. - MSNBC

In 2004, 13,000 new marine species were discovered, according to the Census of Marine Life. - Census of Marine Life

Japan has caught $6 billion worth of illegal Southern Bluefin tuna over the past 20 years. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Over the past 50 years World consumption of tuna has increased tenfold, from 0.4 million to over 4 million tonnes. - Environmental Justice Foundation

In 2000 tuna long liners set 1.2 billion hooks catching untold number of turtles, seabirds and sharks. - WWF

Fifteen species of sharks have seen their numbers drop by 50 per cent in the last 20 years. - National Geographic

Illegal fishing is worth up to $9 billion a year. - Illegal Fishing.info

Fifty two per cent of fish stocks are fully exploited. - Marine Stewardship Council

[Rayden]

In before somebody makes a pro wrestling joke. But seriously, I dont eat fish, its gross.

[dr love]

Fish Facts



One billion people rely on fish as an important source of protein. - WWF

An international group of ecologists and economists warned that the world will run out of seafood by 2048 - Washington Post

The looming collapse of fisheries threatens the most important source of food for 250 million people. - The Earth's Carrying Capacity - Bruce Sundquist

According to the UNFAO, about 70 per cent of our global fisheries are now being fished close to, already at, or beyond their capacity. - The Earth's Carrying Capacity - Bruce Sundquist

As many as 90 per cent of all the ocean's large fish have been fished out. - WWF

one per cent of the world's Industrial fishing fleets account for 50 per cent of the world's catches. - CNN

Government subsidies of over $15 billion a year play a major role in creating the worlds fishing fleets.- WWF

The global fishing fleets are 250 per cent larger than the oceans can sustainably support.- WWF

Only 0.6 per cent of the world’s oceans are designated as protected.- WWF

A Greenpeace report states that 40 per cent of the world’s oceans should be placed in nature reserves. - MSNBC

In 2004, 13,000 new marine species were discovered, according to the Census of Marine Life. - Census of Marine Life

Japan has caught $6 billion worth of illegal Southern Bluefin tuna over the past 20 years. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Over the past 50 years World consumption of tuna has increased tenfold, from 0.4 million to over 4 million tonnes. - Environmental Justice Foundation

In 2000 tuna long liners set 1.2 billion hooks catching untold number of turtles, seabirds and sharks. - WWF

Fifteen species of sharks have seen their numbers drop by 50 per cent in the last 20 years. - National Geographic

Illegal fishing is worth up to $9 billion a year. - Illegal Fishing.info

Fifty two per cent of fish stocks are fully exploited. - Marine Stewardship Council

we will eventually fuck this place up, more of a meat eater myself, good info,;doc;

[dublin laddie]

World leaders and organisations speak out on overfishing

"Once considered inexhaustible, our oceans are now in a state of global crisis as more and more people compete for fewer and fewer fish. Overfishing threatens coastal communities and the food security of the millions who rely on marine fish as an important source of protein. Yet the solutions are in our hands, because what we buy for dinner tonight can determine whether tomorrow's generations will continue to enjoy the oceans' riches. Or not." WWF, the global conservation organisation

"The vibrant beauty of the oceans is a blessing to our country. And it’s a blessing to the world. The oceans contain countless treasures. They carry much of our trade; they provide food and recreation for billions of people. We have a responsibility, a solemn responsibility, to be good stewards of the oceans and the creatures who inhabit them." President George W Bush

"We know that when we protect our oceans, we’re protecting our future." President Bill Clinton

Prince Charles, who is president of the MCS, said it was a "wake-up call" that British seas were in need of urgent help. "There is simply nowhere in Britain's seas where marine life is effectively protected from human impacts," he said. "Never has it been so important to take immediate action to protect marine life." HRH Prince Charles, President, Marine Conservation Society

"The need for nations to agree on urgent action has never been more acute. Measures introduced over the next few years will determine what the future will hold in terms of food security, species survival and the ocean’s ability to withstand climate change, and those measures have to include a robust network of marine protected areas, in national and international waters." Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of the IUCN Global Marine Programme, United Nations General Assembly, World Conservation Union

"After climate change, commercial fishing represents the greatest threat to life in our oceans. As well as ruthlessly fishing out stock after stock, the way we fish has disastrous consequences for other species and entire ecosystems – but the damage being done is out at sea, out of sight, and out of mind for most people. We need to take drastic action to repair the damage we’ve done to our oceans before it’s too late." Willie Mackenzie, Oceans Campaign, Greenpeace United Kingdom

"Overfishing cannot continue." Nitin Desai, Secretary General of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development

''We've acted as if the supply of fish was limitless and it's not." Steve Trent, Executive Director, Environmental Justice Foundation

''As Europe has sought to manage its fisheries and to limit its fishing, what we've done is to export the overfishing problem elsewhere, particularly to Africa." Steve Trent, Executive Director, Evironmental Justice Foundation

''The sea is being emptied." Moctar Ba, Scientific Consultant, Mauritania and West Africa

"Can the sea really let us eat sushi in these numbers?" Caroline Bennett, Founder, Moshi Moshi sushi chain

"This project allows us to finally start to see the big picture of how humans are affecting the oceans. Our results show that when these and other individual impacts are summed up, the big picture looks much worse than I imagine most people expected. It was certainly a surprise to me." Ben Halpern, US National Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)

"It is true that fishermen feel an almost desperate need to catch as many fish as they can when they're allowed to. That sense of desperation ... can't be an excuse for the policymakers of the world and this country to allow that to cause the universal collapse of fisheries." James Greenwood, former US Congressman

"Never before have Mediterranean countries had more reason or opportunity to safeguard the region's beleaguered sharks and rays. Officials should heed the dire warnings of this report and act to protect threatened sharks and rays through regional fisheries agreements, international wildlife conventions, and national legislation. Such action is necessary to change the current course toward extinction of these remarkable animals." Sonja Fordham, deputy chairman of the SSG and policy director for the Shark Alliance

"An estimated 40 percent of cod caught in the Baltic Sea are illegal." Mireille Thom, spokeswoman for Joe Borg, European Union Commissioner of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs

[dublin laddie]

Read the book
Watch the film
Join the campaign
Change the way you live


The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[luther]

Hey Jucy, do ya talk about this stuff on your fishey forum???

[Mousey]

People have this perception that the oceans and seas are teeming with marine life, but apparently this isn't so. David Attenborough likened it to a wet desert, with vast areas of open ocean that's just water - the marine life supposedly tends to congregate in certain areas.

We know more about the surface of the Moon than we do about the Earth's oceans.

[Lucy Chambers]

Hey Jucy, do ya talk about this stuff on your fishey forum???

No. No one I know keeps cod, anyhow.

I must say though, I do a fair bit of diving. Eco freak isn't too far off the mark- we do a lot of damage. I spent a couple of weeks cleaning tesco carrier bags off a reef in Sharm, watching boatloads of tourists hopping on and off coral that had taken a million years to grow and then attempting to hack bits off as a souvenir. It does make you think.

[Lucy Chambers]

People have this perception that the oceans and seas are teeming with marine life, but apparently this isn't so. David Attenborough likened it to a wet desert, with vast areas of open ocean that's just water - the marine life supposedly tends to congregate in certain areas.

We know more about the surface of the Moon than we do about the Earth's oceans.

Most marine life prefer to be near reefs- teeming with food. However, so do humans.

I am going out before I start to agree with DL. My week has been long.