A message you can’t tuna out

Hier weer een bijdrage die we overnemen van Osocio. Deze site volgt wereldwijd “social adverting and non-profit campaignes”.

Okay, the pun stinks. But what’s even more foul is what we are doing to our oceans through unsustainable fisheries. This ad from WWF South Africa, is a graphic representation of “bycatch”, which is the sea life killed and wasted by some commercial fishing techniques:

Copy: Only a tenth of the catch in long line tuna fishing is actually tuna. Most commercial fishing gear is not completely selective. As a result many endangered sea animals are also captured. To ensure the fish you buy is caught in a way that is environmentally friendly, text our fishms number (079 499 8795) with the type of fish and you’ll receive an sms back as to whether it’s in the red, orange or green category.

This ad is particularly timely for me, since my 5-year-old son has started telling off our neighbourhood fishmonger for selling monkfish.

From the campaign web site:

FISHERIES IN CRISIS

It is now widely accepted that commercial fisheries are in a state of decline worldwide. 80% of the world fish stocks are over exploited or exploited to their maximum, this was indicated in The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report (SOFIA) from The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released in 2008.

Total world marine capture fisheries for 2006 was estimated at 81.9 million tons, down from 2005 which was around the 84 million ton mark, the average for the past decade. Aquaculture production, however, has been on a steady increase since 2000 and in 2006 contributed more than a third of the total fish production (wild caught and farmed). There have also been a growing number of papers published in top scientific journals addressing the impacts and issues around overfishing.

Perhaps the most worrying trend is that some fisheries have failed to show any signs of recovery even after many years of protection. The best (or worst) example is the northwest stock of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) which in Canadian waters has been closed to fishing since 1990, and is now listed as ‘Vulnerable’ by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

WHY SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD?
Seafood is now a more popular food choice than ever before. It’s the healthy, sensible and guilt-free choice…or is it?

More and more people are considering seafood as a healthy and natural protein source in a time when many consumers regard products from conventional commercial land-based farms with increasing suspicion. The continued globalisation of markets has seen seafood become the most traded global food commodity in the world and has resulted in an explosion in the popularity of formerly “exotic” cuisine such as sushi, driven on by the trend-setters of the culinary world.

What is less widely known or publicised are conservation issues surrounding seafood species, and the fact that many of our seafood sources are harvested at unsustainable rates, and that in many cases the activity of fishing may cause unacceptable damage to the oceans ecosystem with potential long-term negative effects. If we want to continue to enjoy the variety and diversity of seafood that we have become accustomed to for decades to come, we need to start making informed choices right now.

This SASSI card, available for download on the site, can be printed and kept in your wallet for reference while grocery shopping. Or you can borrow my five-year-old environmental activist. He knows it by heart.

Advertiser:
World Wildlife Fund (South Africa)
Agency:
Lowe Bull
Source:
Ads of the World