Comments Blueplanet has made

Please define sustainable

The Alaskan pollock shows that marine conservation is steaming straight ahead like the unsinkable Titanic. Pollock were ignored as a valuable catch whilst cod and haddock were abundant so stocks remained extremely healthy, cod and haddock dissappear and they turn to pollock as the sustainable alternative to keep the world in fish fingers. So now pollock are on the verge of collapse, no surprise there. What is totally surprising is the fact that millions of tonnes of pollock can be sold as a sustainable alternative and people believed it.On Most ubiquitous fish in American diet 50 percent below last year's levels posted 1 year, 1 month ago 3 Responses

OVERFISHING

Overfishing must now be seen as a threat to human existence -http://www.blueplanetsociety.org/about14.htmlOn Coral reefs not doing so well posted 1 year, 4 months ago 5 Responses

Oceans in crisis

Our oceans are now showing the strain of industrial over-exploitation in many ways http://www.blueplanetsociety.org/about14.htmlOn Penguin declines don't bode well for the rest of us posted 1 year, 4 months ago 8 Responses

Boris

Boris is very well known in Britain. He is a member of parliament for Henley, has written books, was the editor of the Spectator magazine and has hosted satirical TV programmes.

He is much more intelligent than he acts (he has the air of a scatterbrained scientist) but is very prone to gaffes. He once famously said that the city of Liverpool was 'wallowing' in self pity after Iraq hostage and Liverpudlian Kenneth Bigley was decapitated by extremists, and was forced by his political party to go to Liverpool to apologise.

Personally I think he will make a good mayor but he may not push the radical green issues Ken Livingstone was famous for.On What will London's new mayor, Boris Johnson, do for the environment? posted 1 year, 6 months ago 5 Responses

Overfishing

'The End of The Line - How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat' by Charles Clover is a very good read.On Voting is open for the Orion Readers' Choice Award posted 1 year, 8 months ago 4 Responses

Sharks

I see that in some circles it is still considered macho and clever to kill sharks for sport - http://www.underwatertimes.com

Surely if sharks are to have any chance of long term survival this sort of activity must have to become totally unacceptable to the majority of people?

http://www.blueplanetsociety.orgOn Friendly cetaceans and smelly algae posted 1 year, 8 months ago 15 Responses

American Bias?

Do I detect a bit of American bias in this American study? The Gulf of Mexico which is shallow, has experienced dead-zones, chronic overfishing and oil extraction appears to be no more affected than much of the rest of the world's seas. Conversely the North Sea, which despite the rumours still has some cod, has never had any dead-zones, has EU blue-flag beaches, some of the largest seabird colonies on earth, is made out to be the worst place on earth for marine conservation.

Granted it isn't in the best shape, but I am slightly suspicious that the same levels of polluting activity are not shown up on this map around some areas of the coast of the world's largest industrial polluter.On Nearly all of world's oceans tainted by human activity, says study posted 1 year, 9 months ago 4 Responses

Livingston's Green Folly

London, a city with a population the size of Israel, is being run by a fraudster with a grudge against the middle-class, not some eco-warrior as he'd have you believe.

The new 'congestion' charge of twenty-five pounds ($50) aimed at vehicles which emit 220g or more of CO2 per km or have an engine size above three litres has nothing to do with climate change, but more to do with a class war.

I'm all for saving the environment but Livingston's plans for a greener London just don't add up. This move will add more cars to our roads, not less.

Does Livingston think that Range Rover drivers are going to give up their beloved cars? All they are going to do is buy another car that doesn't have to pay the charge, whilst using the Range Rover for trips to the country on the weekend.

So what we end up with is more cars manufactured and more cars in and around London, causing much more pollution.

It makes even less sense when you consider that Livingston presides over the most expensive metropolitan transport system in the world, two pounds ($4) for a single bus and four pounds and fifty pence ($9) for a single underground journey, putting paid to any myth that he is trying to create a greener city.

Something needs to be done, but not like this, and not by Livingston, London's Hugo Chavez wannabe.On London mayor triples fee for most-polluting cars entering city center posted 1 year, 9 months ago 4 Responses

London

London is no longer 'notoriously smoggy' and hasn't been for about 30 years. It was already one of the least polluted big cities in the world.

Ambulances and buses will not be charged, they are all modern and meet emission guidlines. Large hauliers are all equipped to EU emissions standards. The only people this will effect will be struggling small businesses with older vehicles.On Polluting vehicles must pay to drive in London under new scheme posted 1 year, 9 months ago 4 Responses

Don't worry, it's only a fish

A population of animals declines by 90% over a five year period and they might 'possibly' consider an outright ban?

Would you ever see such greed and stupidity with any animal other than fish?   On California's chinook salmon population near "unprecedented collapse" posted 1 year, 10 months ago 5 Responses

Krill Oil

There is a worrying trend towards harvesting krill in large quantities. As the largest biomass on earth apparently, surely it will not be long before someone decides that this is an economical and readily available source of fuel?

It must not be allowed to happen.On Where will biofuels and biomass feedstocks come from? posted 1 year, 10 months ago 16 Responses

Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace

It is exactly this kind of activity that will keep whaling on the agenda. Sea Shepherd have for once attracted attention to their cause without too much 'violent' action.

The media coverage has been full of praise for these actions, and although the Japanese acted with restraint, they are still seen as the 'provocateurs' in this.

I'm afraid there will not be much interest in whaling for the mainstream media if the ships of conservation groups just follow the whaling fleet like some cold war Russian trawler.On Sonar gets presidential pardon, seas more violent posted 1 year, 10 months ago 28 Responses

Sustainability

You are so right.

Can you answer this then - why does the MSC exist? Surely, by their definition sustainable means plentiful, and when the population (Alaskan pollock?) has been 'sustainably' caught and we can't make fishfingers out of them anymore we shall move onto another plentiful fish species (wrasse?).

Cod were more than sustainable once, even a plague by human standards (remember the passenger pigeon?).

Sustainable to me means leaving the oceans and sea alone to recover, not moving onto last years cheap fish species.On There's a large human cost to subsidizing European fishing fleets in West Africa posted 1 year, 10 months ago 16 Responses

Sushi Picket

You should certainly picket sushi restaurants if they have bluefin, marlin, swordfish or grouper on the menu.

I've had great success with Chinese restaurants and sharkfin soup in my area and now beyond. Everytime I pass one with it on the menu I pop in and have a word with the owner.

As they generally don't sell huge quantities of sharkfin soup they will normally take it off the menu if they think it will damage business in the long-term.

If they refuse, then a well placed poster normally does the trick.

'BIN THE FIN, IT'S A SIN!'On Manatee deaths down, lonely penguin count up by one posted 1 year, 10 months ago 15 Responses

Put a Ban on Bluefin

When a single animal is worth more than $55,000 what hope is there left for the species? It is now time to put a worldwide ban on the trade of bluefin tuna and place it on a par with ivory and tiger products. C'mon C.I.T.E.S!

http://www.blueplanetsociety.orgOn Manatee deaths down, lonely penguin count up by one posted 1 year, 10 months ago 15 Responses

2008 Prediction

2008 may well be the year that we finally realise what damage we have done to our oceans and seas through overfishing.

The increased price of tinned tuna, starving marine animals like birds and seals, jellyfish blooms, and the near eradication of some of the most iconic fish of the seas such as bluefin tuna and swordfish will show that overfishing is at least as great a challenge to us as climate change.On 2008 will see another peaceful transfer of power in the U.S. posted 1 year, 11 months ago 20 Responses

Slow, slow, quick

The agreements on deforestation are good, but no binding targets, no reduction in emissions (they won't even peak until 2020). If global warming is as serious issue as we are constantly told where is the urgency?On Countries strike climate deal in Bali posted 1 year, 11 months ago 20 Responses

Blue is the New Green?

It may be easy being green but why don't you try being blue? It's also easier than you think.

http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/greenview/displays ...

http://www.blueplanetsociety.orgOn Michael Gelobter argues that the hair-shirtists need to give it a rest posted 1 year, 11 months ago 3 Responses

Sustainable seafood

I agree with you AMC, and I have given up eating seafood entirely as well. Until laws are passed that ensures that only the target species are caught, with no colateral damage, no bycatch and no discards, I am not convinced that any commercial fishing of wild species can be sustainable, whether MSC certified or not.
This will of course increase the price of seafood dramatically, but no wild animal should be cheap and if we are prepared to do it for organic vegetables then we should do it for fish.On Bycatch is the ugliest thing you never see in the fish market posted 1 year, 11 months ago 15 Responses

Sexing up the story

If the 16 US spy agencies have come to the conclusion that Iran hasn't been trying to aquire a nuclear weapon since 2003 who has been briefing GW and his hawkish cronies?
It is well known that this information only reaches the public months after the results are known but all we've been hearing is that Iran is a threat to global security.
I smell a rat. This change of approach must have more to do with US policy than Iran and its ability to produce a weapon of mass destruction, but what exactly does the US Government have in store? It is precisely this kind of 'spin' that has made the US a global laughing stock and bolstered the ranks of muslim fundamentalism. On Remember how we urgently need to bomb Iran to destroy their active nuclear weapons program? posted 1 year, 12 months ago 2 Responses

Well done, now let's tackle overfishing

Climate change may well be the biggest challenge humans have ever faced but overfishing and the general abuse of our oceans comes a close second. Whilst great strides have been made with climate change, endangered wild marine animals are still slaughtered in their millions, killing 2/3rds of the world's ecosystems. Both these immense challenges should be tackled with equal tenacity.

http://www.blueplanetsociety.org
On Greens need to learn how to celebrate their friends and their movement posted 1 year, 12 months ago 31 Responses

Climate clarity

How can someone judge if the climate change message is getting across clearly if they cannot communicate themselves? The jargon and confusing English in this statement is obviously designed for the bureaucrats with the time to decipher it.

What would be of great help is if people at the IIED learned to write in plain English.

http://www.blueplanetsociety.orgOn New briefing finds improvement but new challenges for climate reporting posted 1 year, 12 months ago 5 Responses