LotusLeaf Tai Chi

A strange question for a Tai chi website, maybe. But I think it is really important to know and care about things that are going on.  My passion is the sea (anyone who knows my son might have guessed that), I studied Marine Biology at university and go to the sea whenever possible.  I have long heard about the oceans being overfished but it was the film “End of the line” that really brought it into perspective and I can’t recommend strongly enough that EVERYONE should watch this film.

The film looks into all the facts about our worldwide fishing industry and how we are bringing into free-fall so many species of fish that it is estimated that if nothing changes we will RUN OUT of fish in 40 odd years.  That means down to eating jellyfish and chips or maybe plankton burgers?!?  Some of the fishing facts are scary for example the  length of line put out each year by long line fisheries is estimated to be able to go 500 times round the planet!  Governments pay out 15 billion dollars  a year to subsidise  fishing and so encouraging over fishing.

I can’t sit back and do nothing and in this case there is something really simple to do and in the words of the film:

Ask before you buy – Only eat sustainable seafood – look for the MSC logo on your packs of fish

Tell politicians – respect the science and cut the fishing fleet

Join the campaign for protected seas – check out The End of the Line website and also The Marine Conservation Society and their off shoot with the Cooperative – Your Seas Your Voice campaign

It doesn’t take long, it doesn’t cost anything and it could make all the difference.  To paraphrase Charles Clover, investigative reporter, when all else has gone wrong and global warming has meant we can’t produce enough food to feed us on land, we are squandering our most precious resource we have – wild fish.