π―π΅ Japan sells whale meat in vending machines
High seas treaty negotiations underway in NYC
Dear Ocean Lovers,
This is Ali Tabrizi, Director of Seaspiracy. Welcome to our very first newsletter! So much has happened since the release of our film on Netflix in 2021, yet our mission to help save the ocean and its inhabitants continues. With so many new facts and stories coming to light from around the world, we want to provide you with a quick and easy way of keeping up to speed with the complex and fascinating world of ocean conservation with these updates⦠starting with:
ποΈ IN OCEAN NEWS
π¨π· Costa Rica announces ban on fishing of hammerhead sharks.
π’ London ship insurers accused of enabling illegal fishing in the Indian Ocean.
π Scientists warn that noise from deep sea mining harms whales.
π¨π¦ Canada declares moratorium on deep-sea mining at global ocean conservation summit.
π―π΅ Japan begins sale of whale meat from vending machines.
π½ UN negotiations on High Seas Treaty resume in NYC , Jane Fonda delivers 5.5M signatures.
π¦πΊ Australia to make area the size of Germany a marine park in Southern Ocean.
π THE SEASPIRACY EFFECT
π΅οΈ DEEP INVESTIGATIONS
π¦ Threatened shark species being served as βflakeβ in Australia.
π£ New study reveals US freshwater fish highly contaminated with forever chemicals.
π SEASPIRACY SOLUTIONS
π‘ DIVE WITH PURPOSE
βIf they build the new pier and build the condos, the Cozumel coral reef is going to be remembered only in history books, nothing more, it will no longer exist.β
Dr German Mendez first visited Cozumel 40 years ago.
βI was a veterinarian, I lived in Mexico City. I used to take care of animals, I came here to learn to dive, and when I learned, I didnβt go back, I stayed here, I pursued a career in diving.
In the 1990s he began to notice the impact tourism was having on the reef, joining a protest group called Corales Vivos that adamantly fought against a cruise ship terminal being built.
βIn 1994 they built that pier and we were marching in the streets with banners telling them not to build the pier because they were going to destroy the corals below, and they told me βyouβre just a veterinarian, you donβt even know what a coral is.β So I made the decision to go to the USA to study. I got a masterβs degree in marine biology and specialised in corals, and when I returned 80 percent of the corals that I wanted to defend in Puerta Maya had died.β
πΒ DONATE
Supporting us with a monthly or one-off donation is an incredible way to help us continue fighting for our oceans. We are continuing to investigate and create educational content to share across social media, and raise worldwide awareness to help save our oceans and bring it to the forefront of environmental and political action.
βWe must come together to create this change, and we can't do it alone.
By supporting us with a donation you can be assured that every penny goes back into spreading this vital message, ensuring we turn the tide and save our oceans before it's too late. We do not accept any corporate financing, we are an independent media organization entirely supported by our readership.
βοΈ ACT
In June 2022 the WTO agreed to its first environmentally focused Agreement: The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. 160 member states agreed to limit their fisheries subsidies, a key contributor to overfishing.
The current agreement prohibits subsidies to:
overfished stocks (decided by RFMOs)
to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
for vessels fishing in the high seas.
However, the agreement does not include "capacity building" and all "harmful subsidies." These are the subsidies that lead to overfishing and artificially reduce the fishing industry's costs.Β
These include:
fossil fuel subsidies
modernising fishing fleets
fishing beyond the member states' waters (EEZs)
We urge member states to include ALL harmful subsidies in the Agreement of Fisheries Subsidies to really address our current overfishing problem.
Please sign and share this petition.
πΒ The Deep Club
what weβre watching, reading and following this month.
πΊΒ What weβre watching: The Dark Hobby
πΈ Profile of the month: @sealeagacy
πWhat weβre reading: The Unnatural History of the Sea by Callum Roberts
π€― Ocean fact we learnt this month: 94% of animals killed for human consumption are fish.
Can Brazil burn down the Amazon rainforest? Can members of the Nuke Club do more nuclear testing? Can any country destroy World Heritage Sites within its territory? What can the world do to avoid imminent grave environmental damage to the environment by any government? In other words:
Who owns the environment?
The answer is obvious, of course: nobody.
But all nations of the world donβt believe so. On the contrary, they accept as accurate that they have regulatory rights or ownership over everything within their borders, including the environment. Their political leaders and people think they can do whatever they want within their territory regardless of its negative environmental impact in their domain (like burning down the Amazon rain forest) and somewhere else on the planet (creating barriers to stop animal migrations). They feel free to fulfill their caprices such as brutalizing rain forests or waters for infrastructures, industries or tourism, destroying lands for mining, trash dumping, sea and pole misuse and exploitation; in sum, environmentally do whatever they want inside the space, the rest of the world admits they have full sovereignty, or any country does not own it, like the Poles or high seas This groundless belief of countries over the environment is what Iβve called βBad Sovereigntyβ, to me, one of the leading cause of climate change.
Immediate actions are required, and young people whose future is jeopardised due to climate change must take the lead. BAD SOVEREIGNTY, as the most destructive force of the environment, must be immediately removed as a Constitutional privilege in all countries of the world, and the time to act is now. Not an easy task, but possible. However, Itβs a βscorching issueβ, and progress is slow and time-consuming. Iβve just written a movie script called DO UT DES, based in Australia, which promotes the concept. If you or anyone is genuinely interested and believes you can help in its promotion, I will gladly send a portion for your consideration.
I'm a retired Venezuelan lawyer presently living in Mexico, and a published novelist (by Planeta, Spain, and other publishers)
Thank you
Jorge Partidas Alzuru
Soberania.ambiental.global@gmail.com
jorgepartidas@gmail.com