What: Mysterious Pyramid Puzzle Appears outside the European Parliament
Really? Yes, really. We will have a large puzzle outside the European Parliament for MEPs and other passersby to figure out – and to help grow understanding of the crucial role of fish and the ocean in protecting our climate.
Why? Because COP27 will have just kicked off in Egypt and the EU needs to grasp that good fisheries management is good carbon management – and that is climate action. Fish, like whales and plankton, are keystones of the ocean’s biological pump, the system constantly at work capturing and storing excess carbon from Earth’s atmosphere.
Who? Members of the European Parliament, The Our Fish campaign and friends. All are welcome!
When: 11-13:00 Tuesday 8th November
Where: In front of the Station Europe building, near the European Parliament
Will there be cake? Yes there will be baklava and dates, coffee and mint tea! Like in Egypt!
How can I learn more?
Healthy fish populations are a vital component of a healthy marine system. They help power the ocean’s biological pump that captures and stores carbon.
We need to conserve that system and the natural carbon engineers – like fish – that make it possible.
Good fisheries management does that: it stops us taking too many fish out of the ocean; it means enforcing the rules that exist thoroughly; and banning practices which damage the whole system. That’s why tackling overfishing is a practical climate solution.
Regardless of what happens at COP27, the EU has the means and the power to take action on climate change by putting its fisheries on a pathway to becoming low-impact and low-carbon. This must include a clear requirement for Ecosystem & Climate Impact Assessments of fishing activities: good fisheries management is good carbon management.
The climate is in crisis and there’s a simple solution that our politicians are currently ignoring: ending overfishing.
The ocean is our strongest defence against climate breakdown but the damage we’re doing to it through overfishing is threatening its ability to protect us.
The ocean has already absorbed more than 90% of human-generated heat in the last century. It’s world-saving stuff, and it wouldn’t be possible without lots of fish.
These tiny heroes are saving the environment just by doing what fish do: eating, swimming and, well, pooing and dying. All of these actions help to capture carbon and send it deep to the bottom of the ocean where it can’t cause dangerous heat increases. Their schooling also helps to push nutrients up, which feed plankton, microscopic floating plants responsible for producing around 70% of the world’s oxygen.
A healthy planet needs a healthy ocean, and a healthy ocean needs fish.
But right now overfishing is threatening their existence. As some species are fished to near collapse, the whole balance of the ocean is being destroyed. It’s not too late to save the ocean, but we need to stand together.
Ending Overfishing is Climate Action – morning swim at Estoril, Lisbon. Photo: Dona Edite
The Our Fish team recently returned from Lisbon, Portugal, where we – along with our friends and allies – delivered a message to global leaders during the UN Ocean Conference: that by ending destructive fishing, they would be taking straightforward, positive action to bolster marine life’s ability to withstand climate heating and improve carbon sequestration – and that this would make a huge difference in the fight to tackle ecological collapse!
We shared this message during several official side events that took place with the support of our partner organisations – a science symposium, a reception for schmoozing, a hearty dip in the Atlantic Ocean – all of which took place before the main conference even opened. These were followed by a mid-week packed-to-the-rafters breakfast briefing featuring prominent scientists and EU policymakers, before we took our “Ending Overfishing is Climate Action” banner to the Blue Climate March, joining hundreds of other people calling on their governments to wake up and protect the ocean. Read on to learn more.
L-R: Rebecca Hubbard, Program Director Our Fish; Dr Laura G Elsler, Co-lead DEI, Early Career Ocean Professionals Program; Dr William Cheung, IPCC Lead Author and Professor and Director, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia; Prof. Alex Rogers, Director of Science at REV Ocean; Dr Rashid Sumaila, Professor and Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia; Charlotte de Fontaubert, Global Lead for the Blue Economy at The World Bank. Photo: Dave Walsh/Our Fish
As UN Ocean Conference delegates poured into Lisbon, leading fisheries and marine scientists and economists from around the world headlined the Science Symposium, which provided a deep dive into the connection between fisheries management and action on the climate and biodiversity emergency.
The speakers presented from a series of papers, recently published in the research topic “How Overfishing Handicaps Resilience of Marine Resources Under Climate Change” in Frontiers in Marine Science, to illustrate how fisheries management measures can positively affect climate adaptation and mitigation, contribute to the restoration of ocean health, improve returns for fishers, and increase resilience to the climate impacts on fisheries that are already underway.
Speakers: Dr Rashid Sumaila, Dr Charlotte Fontaubert, Dr William Cheung, Dr Laura Blamey, Dr Alex Rogers, Erica Ferrer, Dr Sebastian Villasante, Dr Laura G Elsler and Dr Maartje Oostdijk, Ibrahim Issifu, and Ivonne Ortiz
What the speakers said:
“The value of blue carbon should be considered in terms of management of the ocean. Traditionally fisheries management hasn’t considered these ecosystem impacts of fishing. Fisheries management bodies don’t have enough experience or capacity onboard, so they need to acquire that capacity to think about fish in the broader ecosystem and climate context” – Dr Alex Rogers, Director of Science at REV Ocean
“We need to think about how to balance the future and now – we cannot solve the fisheries problem within the fisheries sector” – Dr Rashid Sumaila, Professor and Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia
“We need to do a cost-benefit analysis – value the ecosystem so that those who pay the short-term cost of conservation (such as protecting mangroves or stopping fishing) can be compensated for others to gain the global benefits” – Charlotte de Fontaubert, Global Lead for the Blue Economy at The World Bank
Key Takeaways from the Symposium:
Overfishing truncates the food web and weakens the system, making it more vulnerable to shocks like climate change. Fish are like people in this way – just as a healthy person is more likely to survive COVID, fish populations are more likely to survive climate impacts if they are healthy
The biomass of sensitive fish stocks will be significantly lower under climate change so specific conservation focused rebuilding plans are needed to ensure the fish stocks will be climate-adaptive.
Studies have found that by reducing overcapacity, we can catch more fish: this means less boats, burning less fuel, contributing less to greenhouse gas emissions, and catching more fish
‘Business as usual’ fisheries management may increase risk to stocks under future climate uncertainty, so accounting for this uncertainty and greater precaution can help safeguard stocks in a changing climate
Oceanic blue carbon has enormous potential and is clearly impacted by human activities – it’s not just overfishing impacts that are a problem, but the types of fishing that we are doing, such as bottom trawling, that are a very important consideration
The ocean carbon cycle is a network where carbon is the currency; the more connections there are and the stronger they are, the more possibility for adaptation, and more opportunities for commercial activities
Mitigation aims to reduce emissions (eg. reduce overcapacity) and enhance carbon sinks (eg. reduce overfishing and discards, sediment disturbance), while adaptation focuses on reducing vulnerabilities, increasing resilience (eg. protect habitats, incorporate climate info into stock assessments), and reducing pollution (because the effects of pollution are amplified by climate change).
Incorporating and implementing both adaptation and mitigation as part of the established management process can be the basis of a framework to develop, maintain and grow a portfolio of climate actions over time.
We need a portfolio of solutions that can complement one another that are well designed – there are safe bets, which the current institutions and mechanisms can deliver immediately, and have co-benefits etc, and then there are wild card solutions, which require systemic changes but can have much bigger impacts. We need them all.
Watch the video:
Check out the amazing live art created by Iris Maertens during the symposium:
Click each image to see larger version
Click each image to see larger version
Click each image to see larger version
Event #2: Cocktail Hour
The symposium was followed by a reception, where after years of restraint – and Zoom calls – fishy people could connect and reconnect on a sunny Lisbon afternoon with music and food. And we were on the loose with a camera to prove it!
This event was supported by: Deutsche Umwelthilfe, German Postcode Lottery, Our Fish, Sciaena, University of British Columbia Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries.
Before the UN Ocean Conference had even opened, we announced a plan to wake ourselves up with a cold early morning splash in the Atlantic. Our Fish’s Mike Walker said,
“Before we save the ocean, we have to get in the ocean and celebrate it”
All life comes from the ocean and it is our number one ally in fighting climate change, so we decided to celebrate by bringing people together to reinforce our connection to the ocean – before we spend our week working to defend it!
You never regret a swim. Check out the video here:
Supported by: Cascais municipality, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Deutsche Postcode Lotteries, Our Fish, Oceana, Sciaena, Seas At Risk, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, University of British Columbia Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
L-R – Our Fish’s Rebecca Hubbard, Charlina Vitcheva, Ilka Wagner, Rashid Sumaila, Isabella Lövin, William Cheung. Photo: Dave Walsh
Our final event played to a packed house – as Dr Rashid Sumaila and Dr William Cheung of the University of British Columbia were joined by Isabella Lövin, Former Deputy Prime Minister and former Environment Minister of Sweden, Charlina Vitcheva, Director-General, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission and Ilka Wagner, Head of department, marine conservation, Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, for a discussion on how the science of fisheries management can support a political response to the climate and biodiversity crisis.
Our global experts provided the basics of the science, before the panel discussed the politics and opportunities for transforming fisheries management into a positive driver for mitigating climate change and restoring ocean health.
“We need all hands on deck to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, include the fishing sector, so we need to reduce overfishing, reduce the use of fuel, which will directly reduce emissions, and stop destructive fishing methods that affect important coastal ecosystems” – William Cheung, IPCC Lead Author and Professor and Director, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia
“There are short term economic interests that are destroying our ocean. That is a fact that we shouldn’t shy away from – we should look to politicians and call on them to take the right decisions so that we can be conscious consumers and save our world” – Isabella Lovin, Former Deputy Prime Minister and former Environment Minister of Sweden
“We have to find the right balance. We need to give perspective for fishermen and have a bold decision on the most harmful gears… We will come with a plan and concrete proposals by the end of this year.. for decarbonising the EU fishing fleet” – Charlina Vitcheva,Director-General, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
“Of course it’s not enough to have just the number of MPAs – over 45% of sea in Germany is in MPA but we have no real restrictions. What we would like to see from the government is to have an integration of designation of MPAs and climate change – it’s not enough to know climate change is an issue, we need to integrate it into the processes, and make MPAs climate proof” – Ilka Wagner, Head of department, marine conservation, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Germany
“It’s really important to have the nexus between fisheries and climate. When we look at the CFP in the EU, climate change does not play a role at all and not on the ground when we look at fisheries management like having less dredging, less mobile contacting gears. The CFP is a traditional conservation policy, but we really need to take into account what climate change means for fisheries?”– Ilka Wagner, Head of department, marine conservation, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Germany
Key Takeaways from the Breakfast Briefing:
Ambition from key political players like the EU is important
We are still caught in a paradigm of short-term economic gains – resulting in a gap between ambition and delivery
Recent elections, such as in Germany, demonstrate that the public support wants bold, urgent action that meets the seriousness of the climate and biodiversity crisis
“Indigenous people in Canada talk about managing resources for the 7th generation – if you do that, you can get infinite fish and they will give you benefits for infinity” – Rashid Sumaila
The situation is becoming critical – ocean life, fish populations, fishing industry, climate change.
The highest impacted and risk area for fisheries under climate change is West Africa, so we need to make sure that we are not shifting the demand of fish from the EU to West Africa, because they need the fish for biodiversity and local communities
We have a clear opportunity to transform fisheries management into management that addresses the biodiversity and climate crisis, and there is public support for it
Following the UN Ocean Conference, several NGOs, including Our Fish, wrote to the European Commission to ask for a meeting, because “we are concerned about the apparent lack of willingness to address the impacts of the most destructive fishing gears on marine biodiversity. We are equally concerned that certain inaccurate figures and unscientific arguments about the climate and biodiversity impacts of bottom-contact fishing methods, such as their supposedly beneficial “ploughing” effect on marine ecosystems, are used by the European Commission in the public space.”
After more than three years of COVID restrictions, it was fantastic to see hundreds of people marching together, and inspiring each other – it’s only through collaboration, pushing hard and demanding action from our leaders that we will get the protection our ocean needs.
While the UN Ocean Conference saw some positive commitments, our governments are yet to take this action. Since the conference closed, the impacts of the climate crisis are being felt beyond Lisbon – in Portugal and across Europe, and the world, through heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. Every action that can be taken to mitigate this crisis must be taken and it must be taken now.
The EU has committed to reducing emissions by 55% by 2030 and to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. And while fish as protein may have a smaller carbon footprint than terrestrial farming, many methods use excessive fuel and employ destructive methods.
The EU is currently reviewing the Energy Taxation Directive, providing a critical opportunity for the EU to turn commitments into action by removing fuel subsidies for the fishing industry and driving a transition to low-carbon fishing that does not cause environmental destruction, is not reliant on foreign sources of fossil fuels, and is not heavily dependent on fish imports.
Watch this recording of our workshop, which explores how the EU can decarbonise the fishing industry. The speakers include experts sharing the latest research and progress in maritime decarbonisation, while the workshop investigates the opportunities to apply international experience in the EU, and help identify gaps in achieving decarbonisation of the EU fishing fleet.
On the 14th of June 2022, we held a workshop during which experts presented the decarbonisation solutions available in the maritime sector, followed by a discussion with various stakeholders on what is needed to decarbonise the EU fishing sector. This paper is aimed at sharing recommendations and resources developed as a result of the June 2022 workshop, and to instigate action on the necessary path to decarbonisation.
While the journey to decarbonisation is in its primary stages, progress already made within the maritime sector has provided momentum and offers an incremental pathway for the decarbonisation of the fishing fleet. In order to align itself with the objectives of the EU Green Deal and other relevant international agreements, the global fishing industry will need to switch to new sources of energy. The purpose of this briefing paper is to present a feasibility analysis of batteries, synthetic fuels and wind propulsion for fishing vessels by examining examples from the shipping industry, while also considering the advantages and challenges presented by each source of energy.
Ending overfishing, shifting to low impact fisheries and recovering marine megafauna such as whales, restores biodiversity and the ecosystems they rely on, enhancing the climate resilience of the ocean. Healthy abundant marine biomass will result in reductions in CO2 emissions from fishing fleets.
SPEAKERS: Rebecca Hubbard, Our Fish, Astrid Fuchs, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Melanie Virtue, Convention on Migratory Species Julika Tribukait, World Wildlife Fund for Nature
CO-ORGANIZERS:
Seas at Risk (SAR)
Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC)
The UN Ocean Conference will be a landmark event in this “Super Year for the Ocean”. The latest IPCC report has made explicit the need for urgent action, and along with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is incumbent on us to act decisively on climate change and to realise a just transition. Join Our Fish in Lisbon during this June’s UN Ocean Conference for a series of special events.
Science Symposium: Fisheries Management as Climate Action
Join Our Fish, the University of British Columbia’s Professor Rashid Sumaila and leading fisheries and marine scientists and economists from around the world to explore the connection between fisheries management and action on the climate and biodiversity emergency. The scientists will present a series of papers, recently published inFrontiers in Marine Science (How Overfishing Handicaps Resilience of Marine Resources Under Climate Change), to illustrate how governments can adopt measures that improve fisheries management and contribute to the restoration of ocean health and climate mitigation and adaptation. See the full program here.
Speakers include: Dr Rashid Sumaila, Dr Charlotte Fontaubert, Dr William Cheung, Dr Laura Blamey, Dr Alex Rogers, Erica Ferrer, Dr Sebastian Villasante, Dr Laura G Elsler, Ibrahim Issifu, and Ivonne Ortiz, Francisco Guerreiro MEP.
Cocktails for Fisheries Management as Climate Action
Sunday June 26, 17-19h
Following the Science Symposium at the same venue, Heden.
Do your homework ahead of an exciting week at the UN Ocean Conference with leading scientists, ocean activists and decision-makers, while appreciating Portuguese art, music, wine and food. Welcome from Portuguese Member of European Parliament, Francisco Guerreiro. More information here.
Early Morning Swim: Dive into Fisheries Management as Climate Action
All life comes from the ocean and it is our number one ally in fighting climate change, so let’s celebrate our connection to the ocean before we spend our week working to defend it! Invigorate yourself with an early morning plunge into the Atlantic Ocean at Praia de Carcavelos, one of Lisbon’s most beautiful beaches. We will provide beach towels, coffee and pastries for all swimmers. All are welcome! More information.
Breakfast Briefing: Fisheries Management as Climate Action
Join us for a breakfast briefing and panel discussion on how fisheries management is a means to responding to the climate and biodiversity crisis. We will explore the politics and opportunities for transforming fisheries management into a positive driver for mitigating climate change and restoring ocean health. See the full program here.
Speakers include:
Dr Rashid Sumaila, Professor and Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia
Dr William Cheung, IPCC Lead Author and Professor and Director, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia
Isabella Lövin, Former Deputy Prime Minister and former Environment Minister of Sweden
Ms Charlina Vitcheva, Director-General, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Ilka Wagner, Head of department, marine conservation, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Germany
Ambassador Satyendra Prasad, Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Fiji
Handover of artwork signed by 3,400 EU citizens to Virginijus Sinkevičius at European Commission by Aleksandra Kuźnia, Our Fish. Photographs Our Fish/Dieter Telemans.
On Monday, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius received a framed picture by acclaimed Spanish street artists Boa Mistura, signed by over 3,400 EU citizens, who are calling for urgent action to end over-exploitation and save the ocean to save the climate.
Our Fish delivered a print of Boa Mistura’s Heartbeat of the Ocean to the Commissioners responsible for our ocean and climate – Commissioner Sinkevičius and Executive Vice President Timmermans – as a reminder that the ocean is the beating heart of the planet, and Europeans depend on them to turn words into action. Right now, the EU Commission is drafting its Ocean Action Plan, which is a critical opportunity for Commissioner Sinkevičius to protect our ocean and restore its health.
The EU has signed up to the Leaders Nature Pledge and signed off on the EU Climate Law, but these promises and laws amount to nothing, if everyday decisions continue to wreak havoc on our fish populations, ocean ecosystems, and the climate. We are killing the ocean from fishing too hard and too fast in pursuit of short term profits of a few. This narrow-minded, short-term view overlooks and undermines the ocean’s capacity to store carbon, provide food, be resilient to warming waters, and fight climate change. This artwork, and the support of thousands of Europeans, are calling for urgent action from EU Commissioner Sinkevičius and Vice President Timmermans to save the ocean to save the climate.
Earlier in February, Boa Mistura published an open letter to Commissioner Sinkevičius calling on him to take the lead in ending EU destructive and over-fishing and restore the health of the ocean.
2021 was a massive year for the Our Fish team – by 24th December we were knackered. Were you? Looking back, 2021’s Covid-induced lockdowns, endless zoom meetings and virus-dodging blurs with those of 2020. But 2021 was also different – things did start to happen.
But what does 2022 hold for us and for the ocean around us? In April or so, the European Commission is expected to release its “ocean action plan”, which was named in the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 as the game-changer we need to halt the crisis in the seas around Europe. We expect this Action Plan to propose a pathway and identify actions to retool, redirect and rebalance the EU fishing fleet so that it fishes within nature’s limits instead of hammering the ecosystem and climate.
The Commission will also release their Common Fisheries Policy evaluation, which will identify areas to improve and gaps to fill in EU fisheries management; we have great hopes that it will name options to transition to a more ecologically, socially and economically sustainable path in light of the nature and climate crisis.
The review of the Energy Taxation Directive will be discussed between the EU Council and Commission – a critical opportunity to ensure that the most destructive parts of the fishing industry, and other industries, stop having their fuel subsidised by taxpayers dollars only to make the climate and ocean crisis worse. You can follow our campaign here.
The UN Ocean Conference and UNFCCC deliberations will also be big opportunities to have sustainable fisheries identified as climate action, so that we can ensure national climate action plans stop ignoring the ocean and the huge contribution it can make to climate mitigation and adaptation.
And among it all, we will keep working with artists, fishers, scientists, politicians and citizens to deliver social change. Because this is not a problem fixed by one person overnight. We’re all part of it.
In November, we worked with the famed Spanish street artist collective Boa Mistura to create a massive nine-floor high mural titled Heartbeat of the Ocean, in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. The Boa Mistura team toiled in subzero temperatures to create this dramatic artwork to send a direct message to European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius, who hails from Vilnius, calling on him to “Save the Ocean to Save the Climate”.
On February 2nd, Boa Mistura wrote to the Commissioner – warning that posting selfies of himself with the mural is not enough – and that we’re counting on him to end destructive and over-fishing – we need to urgently restore the health of the ocean in order to improve the chances for the future of humanity.
What else have Our Fish been up to? We went swimming. If there’s an ocean around, we’re gonna jump in to raise a clamour for #OceanClimateAction. Check out our swim during the IUCN World Congress in Marseille, and our icy dip during COP26 in Glasgow.
In Luxembourg in October, string quartet Arel Ensemble performed with mezzo-soprano opera singer Luisa Mauro in the early morning outside the EU Fisheries negotiations over Baltic Sea fishing limits – exhorting them to “Listen to the Ocean”. Check out this stunning video of their haunting performance.
Finally, our Webinar: Mobilising Ocean Climate Action. For this online event, Our Fish brought together a fascinating panel in this online discussion to answer your questions on the science of our ocean, why its health is key to our climate, and how we can drive political action to stop overfishing.
The following open letter has been sent by Spanish street artists Boa Mistura, to EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius calling on him to take the lead in ending EU destructive and over-fishing and restore the health of the ocean. View full press release here.
Dear Commissioner,
In November 2021, we travelled from Madrid to Vilnius to create a huge mural, called “Heartbeat of the Ocean”. We are a group of street artists, called Boa Mistura – which means “good mixture”, reflecting our diverse backgrounds and pathways. We have created massive outdoor artworks all over the world to bring beauty and a message to our streets and connect people.
But nothing connects people like the ocean. It is the source of all life on our planet and produces half the oxygen we breathe. The ocean is a great reservoir for biodiversity, is the second largest store of carbon on Earth and has absorbed over 90% of the human created heat. Without the cooling effect of the ocean, the global temperature would be 35 degrees warmer – that is, all of us would be dead.
The mural of sea creatures in Vilnius shows and celebrates the Ocean as the heart of the planet. Without a healthy ocean, we cannot have a healthy planet – no heart, no life. Our mural in Vilnius is our message to the world: ‘Save the Ocean to Save the Climate’.
The mural depicts whales, fish, and other ocean creatures with hands supporting them to express the love and respect humans should have for oceans. It is not only a gift to the people of Vilnius, but to all people. We need people around the world to understand that a healthy ocean is critical to a healthy planet and climate action.
Why Vilnius? “Heartbeat of the Ocean” has a special message for you as Lithuania’s European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries: the future of Europe’s fish and ocean life are in your hands. This is not just a good line for social media – it is also a deeper message and an urgent call for action. In Vilnius we painted in sub-zero temperatures to communicate our message, now we call on you to take decisive and bold action to protect the ocean, and so safeguard the lives and communities who depend on it… and that means all of us.
You can start in 2022, by ending the fishing that is destroying the ocean. This needs to include a “just transition” for those who are dependent on fishing. By ending destructive and over-fishing and restoring the health of the ocean, we improve the chances for the future of humanity. This sounds wild, but that is what is at stake, and Commissioner you are in the extraordinary position of being able to deliver on that. We will keep spreading the message, if you please deliver on the action.
Play Ocean Uprising
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