Using Direct Action to Stop Illegal Fishing, Protect Our Oceans, and Save Our Planet

WeCanRemaketheWorldPodcast · Using Direct Action to Stop Illegal Fishing, Protect Our Oceans, and Save Our Planet - Sea Shepherd

When Nobody is Standing Up for the Oceans or the Earth, We Can

When the going gets tough the activists get tougher. Our oceans are in distress as we continue to overfish marine ecosystems around the world. 90% of whales, 85-99% of shark species, trillions of fish, and countless other ocean animals have been lost due to overfishing, much of which operates outside of the law. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a major enabler of the exploitation of our oceans but the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is standing in the way. Literally. By using direct action techniques, and what founder, Captain Paul Watson, calls “aggressive nonviolence”, Sea Shepherd crews document and disrupt illegal fishing and whaling on the open water. Featured on the popular TV series, “Whale Wars”, and in documentaries like Seaspiracy on Netflix, Sea Shepherd ships disrupt and document the activity of illegal fishing boats as those vessels attempt to cover up human rights violations and their destruction of wildlife ecosystems. Tune in to learn more about the crucial work Sea Shepherd is doing to protect our oceans, which also means protecting our planet, and how you can get involved today.

What you can do today

• Learn more, volunteer, donate, and get involved at https://seashepherd.org/. 

• Sea Shepherd volunteering FAQ

• Follow Sea Shepherd on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

• Watch Seaspiracy, Defend, Conserve, Protect, Watson, Whale Wars, Ocean Warriors - links below in resources - or any other media featuring Sea Shepherd to learn more about their current and past conservation campaigns

Challenge

• The Earth Warrior challenge. Make a choice to alter your habits or behaviors in a way that benefits the Earth. If you eat seafood, or animal products of any kind, you can choose to remove them from your diet completely, or partially if you need a transition period. Replace disposables with reusables for good. If you have the choice between car, train, bus, or plane, choose train or bus – or bike. Or build volunteering with an Earth-focused organization into your routine. Choose something that you know will have a powerful impact on the health of our Earth and take action on it that you can sustain. Tell other people about the choice you’ve made and why you’ve made it. The more of us who become Earth warriors the more hope we'll see by making our hope active and alive.

Resources

• FILMS and TV:

  • Seaspiracy film

  • Defend, Conserve, Protect film

  • Whale Wars series

  • Ocean Warriors seres

• Global Seafood Industry HUMAN RIGHTS and labor concerns:

  • NOAA article about human rights concerns and forced labor in the international seafood industry

  • NOAA report on human trafficking in the global seafood industry

  • CNBC article about modern slavery in the global seafood industry

  • humantraffickingsearch.org article about the problems in global seafood industry

  • International Labor Organization (ILO) article highlighting the high levels of danger for workers in the global seafood industry

• Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in the global seafood industry

  • Marine Policy article on the quantity of illegal fishing in the United States market

  • Pew Trust article on European regulations which work to curtail illegal fishing

  • Pew Trust article on how at least 1 in 5 fish is caught illegally

  • Article about US demand for seafood contributing to global IUU fishing

  • Manila Bulletin article highlighting findings from US AID that 40% of fish caught in the Philippines is caught illegally

  • San Francisco Gate article about the widespread problem of mislabeled seafood

  • Straight.com article about the Oceana report which found that at least 40% of seafood is mislabeled

  • Oceana article announcing the massive report they completed on seafood labeling fraud around the world

  • Full Oceana report on how loopholes allow illegally caught seafood to enter into restaurants, markets, and stores around the United States

• Overfishing, animal agriculture, and the health of the oceans

  • Pew Trust article about the massive scale and profit of the global tuna industry

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FOA) article on IUU fishing

  • FOA article on the global registry of seafood industry vessels

  • World Wildlife Fund article on the global problem of bycatch and how it is killing our oceans

  • See Turtles article on the threats faced by sea turtles due to the global seafood industry

  • Faunalytics article on the scale of the global slaughter of animals using United Nations data

  • Scientific American article on the falling phytoplankton population and the implications for global health

  • Guardian article about the massive problem of plastic pollution in the ocean and how global fishing gear and lines are one of the biggest causes

• Sea Shepherd news, announcements, articles, and resources

  • Sea Shepherd announcement praising the end of Japanese whaling in the Southern Atlantic Ocean

  • Historic timeline overview of major Sea Shepherd campaigns and outcomes

  • Sea Shepherd short films highlighting current and recent direct action campaigns

  • Australia’s The New Daily article on Sea Shepherd documentary, Defend, Conserve, Protect

  • Interviews with Captain Paul Walker:

    • PhiLab Canada

    • Age of Union

    • The Guardian

    • Impakter

• Wounded Knee

  • Wikipedia article on the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre

  • Wikipedia article on the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation

  • The Atlantic article on the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation and why it matters

Why We Must Fight for the Health of Our Oceans and Our Earth

Getting real with Sea Shepherd about what’s happening on the oceans around the world, and what we can do to stop it