RSPB risks all on climate-change policy

The RSPB have gone on record as saying they will not oppose windfarms, despite the fact that their primary concern should be the welfare of birds, and windfarms and birds clearly don't mix.

They also believe, quite wrongly in my opinion, that it is climate change not overfishing that is starving our seabirds. (See 'Is the RSPB failing seabirds?' and 'Where have all the sandeels gone?' below).

I assume that the RSPB believe climate change to be such a threat to birdlife that overfishing and windfarms are the lesser of two evils?

This is an extremely high-risk strategy to take and if they are wrong, and the policies they pursue fail, the countryside will be littered with wind turbines and overfishing will have killed all our seabirds.

My problem does not stem from whether or not climate change exists but that in the RSPB's efforts to combat it much more pressing issues will be ignored.

The UK government is in a similar dilemma, they compel me to buy a certain type of lightbulb but they subsidise the buying of new cars and cannot protect the rainforests or implement marine reserves.

Surely, prior to tackling the minutiae of climate change, governments and NGO's should demonstrate an ability to adequately tackle grossly overlooked environmental concerns like overfishing before they can convince us that they will be able to make any impression on a warming planet?

Accidental death of huge marlin must call sportfishing into question

This recent article in the LA Times about a huge 865lb blue marlin that died, possibly from heart failure, whilst a sportfisherman attempted to fight and land it will disturb marine life lovers the world over.

Massive blue marlin are now so rare as to be threatened with extinction. Ninety percent of all large predatory fish like this one have disappeared from our oceans due to overfishing and to see a mature, possibly breeding female, hanging upside down on dry land breaks my heart.

I appreciate that this angler would have released this magnificent animal had it not died, but surely we must now ask ourselves that if the marlin is so stressed by the ordeal that it dies from it should we not now consider stopping harassing these beautiful animals in the name of sport?

Lions, tigers and most other endangered large land predators stopped having to endure an early death in the name of sport many decades ago, surely it is now time to include iconic and rare predatory marine fish in that decision?

The world's ocean has reached crisis point

There are alternatives to the way we treat the marine environment, but they require a change in the way we think and act. Land conservation had its period of enlightenment in the 1950’s and 60’s and it is now long overdue for the world’s ocean to command equal resources and focus. The world’s ocean is unique, and should be treated as such; it hides the damage humans do to it, and hides it so well that it may be too late to do anything by the time we fully realise the extent of our stupidity.

If we take the current rate of over-exploitation of the ocean to its natural conclusion (in about 2050), 71% of earth will be a biological desert, save for a few billion jellyfish. We must wake up to this fact, and we must act now.

Stopping the loss of species and ecosystems is essential but not sufficient. The goal should be to ensure that animals do not become endangered in the first place. This means keeping not only the parts of an ecosystem, but also the processes that generate and maintain the parts.

Saving the planet is not a luxury that can be left to someone else. It requires all of us to make fundamental changes. At present, individuals and corporations are free to act until it is proven that their actions are harmful. This needs to be changed. Commercial fisheries, the oil and gas industry, mining companies, developers, and others must be made to prove that their activities are not harmful to the world’s ocean before engaging in them.

Public education needs to be stepped up significantly too, and this can be done relatively quickly if the conservation sector educates the mass-media first. It should no longer be acceptable for the media to scream ‘shark attack’, or killing game fish for sport to be seen as something to be proud of. In other words, wild marine animals should be afforded the same treatment as wild animals on land. Only then will marine animal consumption go down.

Whichever way you look at it, the world’s ocean has reached crisis point and much more action is needed if we are to avert a global catastrophe. Some people say that humans are at their best when faced with dire choices, that they only act decisively when they are on the precipice of such a catastrophe; well that time has come for the world’s ocean. If only humans had evolved the ability to breath underwater, this message probably wouldn’t be taking such a dangerously long time to sink in.

China threatens the entire marine ecosystem

China has the largest fishing fleet in the world at around 300,000 vessels, employing nearly eight million people, and accounts for one-third of the world's reported fish production. Chinese boats land over 17 million tonnes of marine-life annually for human consumption.

With a population of 1.3 billion people that consume 25.8 kg of fish per annum (nearly twice the world average) and an appetite for high-status dishes comprised of endangered marine species such as abalone and shark-fin soup, it is hard to imagine a greater threat to the health of our oceans. (Chinese emperors loved shark fin soup and abalone because it was expensive, rare, tasty and difficult to prepare. The dishes are now served at weddings to show appreciation to their guests and as a show of respect and honour).

With commercial fish stocks in local waters severely depleted China’s distant water fleet now comprises of about 2,000 vessels. These boats receive subsidies to encourage them to leave coastal waters and 300 Chinese vessels have been sighted off West Africa at any one time. Instead of catching high-end fish like tuna they target smaller species like mackerel, the staple fish of local African fishermen.

This has led to accusations of Chinese fishing vessels worsening Africa’s food crisis and threatening the livelihood of poor African fishermen. Others blame the emergence of pirates in Somali waters on the depletion of fish caused by Chinese overfishing.

China’s illegal fishing has also triggered tension with other countries. Indonesia in June seized eight Chinese fishing vessels and detained 75 Chinese fishermen for illegally fishing in Indonesian waters. Korea this year has seized some 150 Chinese fishing vessels for illegal fishing.

With China's rapacious appetite for eating marine-life, a status based social structure, and a rapidly expanding middle-class population that already stands at around 80 million, the future for our global marine ecosystem looks increasingly bleak.

€4.4 billion spent on emptying our oceans of life

The EU has been subsidising the denudation of our oceans to the tune of €4.4 billion over a 12 year period. Spain, possibly the most repacious fishing country on earth, got 48% of the subsidies dispensed.

A huge Spanish trawler, well known for its over-exploitation of critically endangered Mediterranean bluefin tuna, enjoyed EU subsidies of more than €4m. Three other fishing vessels blacklisted by Greenpeace were given handouts running into millions.

In the current EU budget period of 2007-13, Brussels is handing out a similar level of subsidies of €4.3bn.

This money is spent on a European fishing fleet that currently stands at nearly 100,000 boats, and is by any standards vastly over-capacity. To make matters worse these vessels are targeting fish stocks that are already overfished.

It would be hard to imagine a similar situation on land, where wild animals are hunted to near extinction with the aid of European taxpayers money. It is a legalised, government funded destruction on an unimaginable scale, pure and simple.

The ocean is a wilderness

The ocean is a wilderness reaching round the globe, wilder than a Belgian jungle, and fuller of monsters, washing the very wharves of our cities and the gardens of our sea-side residences. Serpents, bears, hyenas, tigers rapidly vanish as civilization advances, but the most populous and civilized city cannot scare a shark far from its wharves.
Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862