Happy World Ocean Day!
As we head towards the Great Barrier Reef on the Esperanza we're busy getting ready to come into port (Cairns). This is our last day at sea and I can't think of a better day to end our Pacific expedition on. It's World Ocean Day!
Everyone is exhausted and eager to get home but we're all very proud of what we have managed to achieve out here on the big blue. Over the past 9 weeks we've been confronting overfishing in the Western and Central Pacific and calling for marine reserves in the Pacific Commons together with a serious reduction in fishing outside these areas. We have confiscated a fish aggregation device, confronted Korean, Spanish, American and Chinese purse seiners, confiscated longlinging gear and freed marine life, escorted several fishing vessels out of the Pacific Commons, discovered and interrupted a transfer of fish at sea, uncovered illegal fishing vessels and documented many fishing activities in an area where much goes on unregulated and unknown.
We told each and every story to the rest of the world and especially pushed for exposure in the Pacific - encouraging all the Pacific island countries to stand together in solidarity against the distant fishing nations (Asia, Europe and the US) so that tuna stocks can be preserved for the future.
The concept of a "World Ocean Day" was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It is an opportunity each year to celebrate our world's oceans and our personal connection to the sea.
As for my own personal connection - I have broken my record of time spent at sea without stepping onto land which now stands at 6 weeks! Even though I am an ocean fanatic - I am more than ready to plant my feet on terra firma! But it's been a blast and being here has re-charged my passion for protecting our oceans.
The Pacific is so vast that it has been hard for me to comprehend how we could possibly be having such a dramatic effect on it. We have gone for days without seeing a single vessel and sailed across thousands of kilometers having only discovered a handful of fishing boats. It wasn't until I saw the Albatun Tres, the Spanish super super seiner that I realised just how easy it is to catch thousands of tuna by barely lifting a finger. Despite the fact that this region is so huge, modern technology has enabled fishing fleets to locate and catch the biggest aggregations of tuna - wherever they may be.
The most positive move towards saving tuna came out of the meeting in Palau last month. And as the Pacific Commons look set to become the world's first high seas marine reserves, Pacific islanders have given names to these three international areas in need of protection. So we're on a winning streak and the campaign will continue on land.
I've had an amazing experience on the Esperanza and this is definitely the most fun and exciting office I have ever worked in. The best part for me was on our last day of campaign work before we headed for land. We needed an extra video person in the helicopter to document some fishing vessels and I happened to be in the right place at the right time so I ended up riding in the chopper for the first time in my life and it was so much fun! We flew over the sea at 125mph, through a rain cloud, round 2 purse seiners and back to the Esperanza for a challenging but super smooth landing.
I have also loved waking up early in the morning while the moon and stars were still out and then watching the gorgeous colorful sunrises as we prepared for actions. Climbing into inflatables and flying off towards the horizon chasing fishing boats certainly beats a day at a desk - which is where I usually work for Greenpeace. I have seen more rainbows in a few weeks than I can count on both my hands and I have seen the surface of the water look as if it was boiling because hundreds of tuna were jumping around in feeding frenzy. I have stood at the bow while tropical sea birds have glided right past my nose and countless purple, silver and blue flying fish have hovered over the waves beneath me. But I have also seen thousands of tuna raked up out of the ocean with no regard for the future of this precious ecosystem and Pacific island countries that rely so heavily on it.
We have left the Pacific Commons with great hope that these areas of international waters are not far off being completely protected as marine reserves. We are not there yet but the progress is certainly something to celebrate - especially on a day like today.
So hats off to everyone who is doing something for the ocean today. If you would like to do something to help - you can take a few seconds to ask the United Nations to endorse protecting 40 percent of our oceans with no-take marine reserves.
This ends our posts coming from the Pacific for now - but I will continue to keep you posted on all the tuna happenings right here on the Making Waves blog.
Thanks for your support and if by any chance you are in Cairns over the next few days - stop by the ship! She's big and blue and kinda hard to miss!
Peace Out
Lisa
Image © Greenpeace/ Paul Hilton
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Comments
Well! I couldn't have put it better myself!
Posted by: deano | June 9, 2008 1:32 AM
lagi !!!lisa!!!!sari...and the campaign team and crew...thank u all well us for making trip my best as well as enjoyable one,....i just want to say that as a pacific islander and member of the crew i had the best moment and experience!!!and am so proud of hard work we have done..i know we are all gearing to go!!!!i just want to say to u all!!!!!I love you all....
daniel loo
Posted by: daniel loo | June 11, 2008 10:21 AM