Ending EU Overfishing: The Decade Past and the Decade to Come – Fishlove Exhibition in Brussels

2009: Fishlove released the first Rankin collection to help promote the documentary "The End of the Line". The series featured Greta Scacchi, Richard E Grant, Terry Gilliam and Emilia Fox. Greta's photograph appeared in every major UK newspaper and became perhaps the first example of a meme, a media sensation around the world. The Observer's Jay Rayner wrote, "In the months and years to come, this picture of Greta Scacchi will doubtless come to be seen as the seminal image when the gruelling, knotty business of campaigning around food issues finally became sexy." Greta was invited to 10 Downing Street to talk to the then Labour government about making fishing more sustainable.

2015: Fishlove joined the Great British Oceans Campaign to protect 20% of our oceans by 2020 with its release of Helena Bonham-Carter’s Fishlove portrait with a yellowfin tuna. After appearing on the front cover of London’s Evening Standard, Helena’s image was widely credited with having helped persuade the UK Government to announce the creation of the world’s biggest marine reserve at that time around Pitcairn Island.

2013: Fishlove asked the French portrait photographer Denis Rouvre to do its third series to help with the BLOOM campaign to end destructive deep sea fishing in Europe. The portraits of Gillian Anderson, and many French celebrities became a global media sensation which helped raise awareness of this little known issue. A ban on deep sea bottom trawling came into force on 12 January 2017.

2015: This Fishlove series was released to the Sunday Times for World Oceans Day in a call of five celebrities to do five things to save the world’s five oceans. The Lobster in this portrait is one of the species threatened by ocean acidification. Often called global warming’s evil twin - the ph of the sea has remained stable for 60 million years but is now changing fast as a result of the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Overfishing undermines the oceans capacity to absorb CO2 by removing fish - who help to sequester CO2 in the seabed - and by disturbing the carbon stored in the seabed using heavy, bottom-impacting trawl gears.

2018: Fishlove went Europe-wide, with shoots in Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and London. Portraits of Rutger Hauer and other major European actors featured in poster campaigns in The Hague, Bergen airport in Norway, and eye-catching direct-action campaigns in front of the Bundestag in Berlin and Christiansborg in Copenhagen.

Fishlove asked the French portrait photographer Denis Rouvre to do its third series to help with the BLOOM campaign to end destructive deep sea fishing in Europe. The portraits of Jean-Marc Barr, and many other French celebrities became a global media sensation which helped raise awareness of this little known issue. Photographs appeared in every major European newspaper, and in over 250 media outlets worldwide. A ban on deep sea bottom trawling came into force on 12 January 2017.

2013: Fishlove asked the French portrait photographer Denis Rouvre to do its third series to help with the BLOOM campaign to end destructive deep sea fishing in Europe. The portraits of Mélanie Bernier, and many other French celebrities became a global media sensation which helped raise awareness of this little known issue. Photographs appeared in every major European newspaper, and in over 250 media outlets worldwide. A ban on deep sea bottom trawling came into force on 12 January 2017.

2018: Fishlove went Europe-wide, with shoots in Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and London. Portraits of Nicolas Bro and other major European actors, joined Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, and Paris Jackson in the most concerted and visible campaign yet to end overfishing in Europe, organised by Our Fish. The portraits featured in poster campaigns in Amsterdam, Bergen airport in Norway, and eye-catching direct-action campaigns in front of the Bundestag in Berlin and Christiansborg in Copenhagen.

2017: Fishlove portraits, featuring the rising star Jessie Buckley were released on the day of the meeting of EU Agrifish Council. The images were released in conjunction with the Our Fish campaign to halt the commercial fishing of threatened eel.

2018: Fishlove went Europe-wide, with shoots in Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and London. Portraits of Tom Wlaschiha and other major European actors, joined Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, and Paris Jackson in the most concerted and visible campaign yet to end overfishing in Europe, organised by Our Fish. The portraits featured in poster campaigns in Amsterdam, Bergen airport in Norway, and eye-catching direct-action campaigns in front of the Bundestag in Berlin and Christiansborg in Copenhagen.

2018: Fishlove went Europe-wide, with shoots in Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and London. Portraits of Benja Bruijning and other major Dutch actors featured in a campaign on bus shelters in The Hague, calling for governments to enforce the law by setting sustainable fishing limits in line with scientific advice and stopping the wasteful practice of discarding unwanted fish at sea.

2012: The majority of European fish stocks are overfished, putting the environment, coastal communities and jobs at risk. For decades, quotas have been set above scientific advice driven by fishing power which far exceeds the available fish. This was the assessment of OCEAN2012, an alliance of organisations that was campaigning to reform the failed EU Common Fisheries Policy in 2012, and it was to this campaign that Fishlove decided to dedicate this series of images, taken by the wonderful fashion photographer, Alan Gelati.

2012: Release of second Rankin collection for the OCEAN2012 campaign, dedicated to reform the failed EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Fishlove is credited by Maria Damanaki, the EU Commissioner in charge of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, as having played a leading role in the success of reforming the CFP.

2018: As part of this Europe-wide Fishlove campaign, portraits of Nina Hoss and other major German celebrities featured in eye-catching direct-action campaigns in front of the Bundestag in Berlin to encourage EU Fisheries Ministers to end the commercial fishing of eel. There are now stricter fishing rules in place but Eel is still critically endangered.

2018: Hollywood legend Sean Penn led a stunning parade of movie stars and celebrities posing - without their clothes - with iconic and threatened fish species, to send a strong message to EU governments to end overfishing.

2013: Fishlove asked the French portrait photographer Denis Rouvre to do its third series to help with the BLOOM campaign to end destructive deep sea fishing in Europe. The portraits of Caroline Ducey, and many other French celebrities became a global media sensation which helped raise awareness of this little known issue. Photographs appeared in every major European newspaper, and in over 250 media outlets worldwide. A ban on deep sea bottom trawling came into force on 12 January 2017.

2019: New Fishlove series created and released in The Netherlands for the Our Fish "Stop overbevissing nu" campaign, featured national actors and celebrities. The release appeared on the most-watched late-night talk show 'Beau' and was featured in a poster campaign throughout The Hague, and fuelled a national discussion about overfishing and the wasteful practice of discarding unwanted fish at sea.

2018: Fishlove went Europe-wide, with shoots in Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and London. Portraits of Natalie Madueno and other major Danish celebrities featured in eye-catching direct-action campaigns in front of Christiansborg in Copenhagen, featured in major national news and prompted the Danish Fisheries Minister to address the issue of overfishing in the Baltic.

2016: A series of Fishlove portraits featuring major UK actors, including Emma Thompson, were released to promote the campaign by the Marine Conservation Society to create more Marine Protection Zones in British waters.

2018: Luxembourgish-German actress Vicky Krieps appeared alongside other European celebrities to coincide with the EU's Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg, where ministers were negotiating quotas for the Baltic Sea. EU law requires an end to overfishing by 2020, but it took many years of public pressure to improve decision making, and there are still concerns about ecosystem and climate impacts of destructive fishing.