Posted by jamie — 6 September 2010 at 10:12am
-
Comments
Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, two Greenpeace activists known as the Tokyo Two, exposed widespread corruption in Japan's whaling programme, yet in return, they have been handed a one year suspended prison sentence.
Posted by Willie — 3 September 2010 at 3:41pm
-
Comments
Handing out sustainable seafood guides on the streets of Tokyo (c) Sutton-Hibbert/Greenpeace
There's a common comment in this part of the world, often repeated on the internet especially, about sorting out the seafood problem: namely, we have to change minds in Japan.
Whilst it's a simplistic generalisation, there is a lot of truth in that. Seafood is a global commodity and a global problem. The big markets for seafood are (perhaps unsurprisingly) North America, Europe, and Asia.
Posted by jamie — 3 September 2010 at 10:54am
-
Comments
Junichi (right) and Toru (left) working on their defence during their trial (c) Sutton-Hibbert/Greenpeace
Two years ago, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki exposed a scandal involving government
corruption entrenched within the tax-payer funded Japanese whaling
industry. They are on trial for theft and trespass, and are awaiting the verdict due this coming Monday.
This will be the first blog Toru and I have written together, as up
until recently our heavy bail restrictions have meant that we could not
be in the same room or even talk to each other without a lawyer present.
The verdict in our trial is approaching, and on Monday
6 September we will know what our fate is. We don't really know what the
result would be, all we know now is that it is going to show the status
of Japanese democracy. It's a long way from where it was when this case
started - our investigation to end Japan's whaling.
Posted by Willie — 25 August 2010 at 12:01pm
-
Comments
Is removing salade nicoise from the menu better than searching out sustainable tuna supplies? (Photo (c) FotoosVanRobin)
When you get a bit close to a subject, you get geeky. Before you know it you are scoffing at how other people could possible not know something, because you do. Yet of course it's true that the vast majority of the public are very much in the 'don't know' camp.
Posted by Willie — 20 August 2010 at 7:35pm
-
Comments
It's a confusing time in the north
Atlantic with an international controversy brewing over the humble
mackerel. Some are comparing
it to last century's 'cod wars', when the UK and Iceland went to battle over access to
cod fishing.
Mackerel, an exquisitely beautiful fish related to the
tunas, is relatively plentiful, occurs in big shoals, and can be caught quite 'cleanly' by seine nets or handlines. For these reasons (as well as the health
benefits of it being an oily fish), it has become a firm favourite for those
seeking a sustainable option.
Guest blogger Ashish Fernandes, oceans campaigner from our New Delhi office, explains how corporate giant Tata is taking legal action against Greenpeace India over an online turtle game.
It's been five years since Greenpace India
started its campaign against the Dhamra port project on the east coast of
India which threatens a host of wild species including horseshoe crabs and
crocodiles. The port happens to be a stone's throw away from one of the world's
largest nesting sites for the olive ridley sea turtle and India's second
largest mangrove forest, which is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance
to boot.
The port is nearly built, but it's clear that we're still a huge thorn
in the side of the company behind this ecological disaster, the giant TATA
Steel corporation, which is a 50-50 stakeholder in the project. In the UK, the
TATAs are known for their takeovers of steelmaker Corus,
Tetley Tea and the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
If you're reading this in the UK, you ran out of fish today.
Basically, the UK eats more fish than its waters produce and, thanks to some nifty fish-counting from the clever folks at NEF, that equates to the 4th of August being the day we use up our year's fish supply. In comparison to the EU as a whole, we fair a month better but then we are a country with quite a lot of seas, certainly in comparison with, er, Austria and Romania. Yet, for almost five full months we are relying on fish from somewhere else. And that might be okay, if there was plenty of it to go around. But of course, as the old saying should go, there aren't plenty more fish in the sea.
Posted by jossc — 12 July 2010 at 3:55pm
-
Comments
As climate change causes the Arctic sea ice to recede, our ship Esperanza has sailed north of Svalbard to survey the poorly understood Arctic Ocean seabed. On the surface, the crew are observing and recording the diverse wildlife that has adapted to survive in this unique and harsh environment. Beneath the waves we are using a remote operated vehicle built and operated by top cameraman Gavin Newman to record the life on the sea bed in fine detail.
Greenpeace is calling for the area of the Arctic Ocean historically protected year round by sea ice to be closed to all industrial activity, including destructive fishing. Read more about the Arctic Under Pressure expedition.
Posted by jamie — 12 July 2010 at 2:55pm
-
Comments
I was gearing up to write something on the interesting new report by the New Economics Foundation (Nef) on how the EU is becoming more reliant on fish from other parts of the world, when my attention was drawn to a piece by the BBC's Richard Black who explains far more eloquently than I ever could what 'fish dependence day' is.
Nef has compared the amount of fish caught within the EU with the amount we consume to find out when - if we only ate our own, EU-caught fish from January 1 - we would have to start using fish supplied by other countries. This year, that day was last Friday 9 July or 'fish dependence day' and, like the global ecological debt day which Nef also computes, it's getting earlier each year as we import more and more fish. Or eat more. Or both.