October 5, 2005
We're on the road!
The 'How much more proof do you need?' roadshow is underway!
We had the first day of the tour in Tauranga yesterday. And it was fantastic - Dean, Meghan, Gareth and I are now more excited than ever about travelling around the country and talking about the impacts of bottom trawling on deep sea life!
During the day we set up our information stall in Red Square in the centre of town. The centrepiece of the stall is life size image of a giant ancient coral being heaved off the back of the NZ bottom trawler Waipori. It really tells the story of the impacts of bottom trawling and it didn't take long to start attracting questions from passers-by!
Later that evening we held our first slideshow for Greenpeace supporters and friends and it was great to meet everybody that came along. The questions and discussions afterwards highlighted once again that there is deep concern about the state of our oceans and disbelief at the images of deep sea destruction that we have brought back from the Tasman Sea.
We'd like to thank everyone that came along last night - you all helped get this important tour off to a great start.
Over the next few weeks we'll be regularly posting to this blog, stories about the tour and the people we meet along the way, more information about the campaign and what can be done to help protect deep sea life. So keep an eye on the site and if you are on our route, hopefully we'll see you soon!
Comments on this entry:
Thanks to the four of you for a well-organised and informative presentation here in Tauranga. It was great to talk to you. Thank you for bringing home and making real to us all the horrible things that are being done out there in the oceans by these bottom trawling fishing boats. Who gave them the right to destroy such an important and beautiful part of our earth? The drive for profits, markets and jobs cannot justify this kind of callous environmental degradation. There must be a way that the fishing industry can respect our deep sea environment and fish in a sustainable way. It is not in their interests and certainly not in ours for this "race to the bottom" to go on. I hope your roadshow wakens others like me to what is going on in our seas. Keep it up Greenpeace. This is an important campaign. I hope the rest of your roadshow goes well and we get a moratorium on this madness. Cheers from Ron and Gillian.
Posted by: Ron Lopert at October 6, 2005 3:46 PM
