At the moment I spend my days watching documentaries and reading about marine environmental issues. I read about problems as well as solutions and ways that could work to maintain a healthy ocean and a sustainable fishing industry. Especially in countries like Germany, where many of the people are not involved in the seas in any way, they simply do not know how industrial fishing and marine debris affects the life in our oceans, but also – and mostly in a very hard way – the local fishers. Sure, there are clearly different point of views to this problem, but nobody can ignore the fact, that our oceans are dying (though this is exactly what quite a few high fishing representatives do!). There is a lot of scientific data and I mean, common, just open you eyes – the fish is dissapearing!! There´s big money in the business – we are talking about billions of dollars and that is one of the reasons why this is happening..
In this movie locals in Cape Verde (an island country in the Atlantic) are accompanied and interviewed by Zé, who had left his village in order to find a better life in Sweden. As he returns he finds the place where he grew up empty and devastated. Since the European and Asian fishing fleets cross the waters around the island and take out hundred of tons of fish every day, the local fishers don´t catch enough anymore to survive.. The only possibility they have in order not to die of hunger, is to sell sand and gravel. They destroy their beaches and salt water mixes with sweet water, which is used to water their agricultural fields. The people know that this is illegal and unhealthy for their ecosystem, but they have simply no choice …
Sandgrains is a public-funded movie. Great to have people out there supporting projects like this and helping to spread awareness – a key factor in conservation!
We can all help by making decisions
What is the price we are paying for the permanent availability of fish here in Europe? Our fleets are emptying the oceans and locals who have been fishing in their grounds for hundreds of years don´t know anymore, who to feed themselves and their families. And let´s not even talk about making money..
It is more than overdue, that our fishing politics change and that each one of us recognizes his/her responsibility in helping! We, as consumers, have the power to boycott certain products and to support others that were harvested or fished sustainability.
I highly recommend this movie to gain a better understanding of the effects of overfishing! It is not a free movie, but you can watch it here for example (with english, french, german & spanish subtitles):
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