Global activism group Avaaz is looking for help in pushing the World Trade Organisation to stop the plunder of our oceans. As a recent mailing puts it:
Often, the issues that affect the most lives don't make the headlines. This month, we have an opportunity to do something big about one of them: the global fishing crisis.
Fishers in developing countries are catching fewer and fewer fish--because of massive overfishing by industrialized fishing fleets from rich countries, fleets subsidized with tens of billions of Euros every year. As a result, fish populations are now collapsing around the globe, and could soon be pushed beyond recovery.
But our oceans don't have to die. This September, the World Trade Organization will release a new proposal for global fishing rules--and right now, trade ministers are deciding what those rules should be. If enough of us urge our trade ministers to support a better system, we preserve our oceans for future generations--and for the one billion humans who rely on fish for protein today. Click here to send your trade minister a message in support fairness and sustainability:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/make_fishing_fair
Ultimately, we believe the answer to the problems of pirate fishing and overfishing would be a global system of rigorously enforced Marine Reserves -- areas that would be protected from destructive human activity until they can recover. You can read more about the problems of overfishing and pirate fishing, as well as the Marine Reserves solution, at our main website. But take action with Avaaz first.