fishing

In the ocean, plankton is food.

There are two types of plankton – tiny plants (phytoplankton) and tiny animals (zooplankton).

Zooplankton includes some eggs and larvae of things like fish and crabs, as well as some minute animals that feed on phytoplankton. That makes them the first link in any food chain, and the basis for all of the ocean’s food webs.

Photographer, Will Rose, joined Greenpeace activists on an expedition to the Indian Ocean to remove dozens of destructive Fish Aggregating Devices. These FADs kill endangered marine life including sharks and turtles, but despite this, leading tuna brands John West and Thai Union continue to use them. Since our campaign launched, Tesco and Waitrose have threatened to remove John West from their shelves unless they clean up their act. 

Being a porpoise looks rubbish.

Dolphins look like they have fun. They even look like they seek out fun. Okay, the fixed grins make them seem perpetually happy but let’s be honest - when was the last time you saw a porpoise jumping out of the water or heard a friend gushing about an *amazing* experience seeing porpoises?

There’s good reason that porpoises don’t have the wow factor of dolphins: and it’s not just that they have bad PR people.

The new Greenpeace tinned tuna league table exposes the wide gulf between UK supermarkets and brands which have taken sustainability seriously and those which have simply broken promises to clean up. Use this to help you decide which brands to buy and which to avoid until they improve. 

#JustTuna

For the first time, this league table ranks brands on a wider range of issues. Yes, there’s fishing methods of course, but we’ve also rated them on;

Yesterday the UK High Court gave the green light for a full judicial review into whether the UK fishing quota allocation system is unlawful under new European law. 

The government has given out fishing quota in largely the same way since the mid-90s. About 95% of the fishing quota is awarded to the larger end of the fleet, most notably domestic and foreign controlled industrial fishing businesses – such as the vessel Cornelis Vrolijk - which we previously exposed. It's symbolic of just how broken the system is.

Illegal fishing is a global problem. Between  €9 - €23 billion is lost every year to illegal fishing and often as a result of international organised crime. Previously, imports of illegal fishing products into the EU were estimated at €1.1 billion. It is often linked to environmental crimes which damage marine habitats and animals, not to mention food insecurity in developing countries, human, drugs and arms trafficking, as well as forced labour on board fishing vessels.

Illegal fishing can happen anywhere and at anytime and last week there were two very interesting developments both at home and abroad.