Vegemite or Marmite - definitely NOT tuna...
On the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, in the heart of the Pacific ocean, we have witnessed one of the titanic struggles of our age, an issue that can divide communities and and often times dare not be spoken.
I am of course talking vegemite or marmite?
If we can resolve the politics of that thorny issue, we could save the tuna!
Okay, that's not true - but it make you look. Take a look at this too: Channel 7 News from Australia was on board the Espy during our recent Defending the Pacific tour. They saw for themselves the overfishing of the tuna stocks and have now made sure that most of Australia has seen it too.....you can check out their news report here.
But what you won't see is when the reporter asked our skipper Madelaine Habib what she would say to the Aussie mums making up tuna sandwiches for the kids packed lunch. "I'd say, try vegemite" said Madelaine.
Well that is all very well in Australia, but the tuna in the Mediterranean are in trouble too and any self-respecting northern cousin would NEVER eat vegemite - "Try Marmite" is surely the answer.
Right now and next month there are also real political debates that actually could save the tuna. In December the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meets and we want them to commit to close to fishing the high seas areas the Espy just spent the last three months defending.
We want marine reserves worldwide to protect all fish stocks, but tuna are in really urgent need of help. In the last fifty years 90% of all the stock has gone.
This week the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) meets in Brazil. We call it the International Conspiracy to Catch All Tuna so that will tell you how bad it is has been at its job. Made up of 47 governments (plus the EU) from around the world that have collectively fished out the bluefin tuna of the Med. Last month their own scientists demonstrated that the stocks were so low they should be protected by a ban on all trade, but ICCAT has been notorious at ignoring the scientists advice.
I'm told you can't buy vegemite or marmite in Brazil, but unless there is serious action by those 48 governments, you might be able to see tuna being sold out.
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Comments
My friend... FISH!
My mate... MARMITE!
Posted by: Lisa | November 10, 2009 10:54 PM
As a Rainbow Warrior veteran (circa mid '70s) love the thought of that very rare 'down-time' being taken up with a M-V debate. I say Marmite, others say Vegemite, but I say them both in my new book: The Mish-Mash Dictionary of Marmite: an anecdotal A-Z of 'Tar-in-a-Jar'. Check it out on: Mish-Mash-Marmite.blogspot.com btw: The 'V' word is mentioned 40 times - not bad for a book with Marmite in its title! Cheers to Greenpeace, for ever...Maggie Hall.
Posted by: Maggie Hall | December 8, 2009 5:22 PM