Support Local Fishing Industries

I watched Seaspiracy on Netflix last year and it made me realise just how little I know about anything on our planet, especially in our ocean. You know that saying, “the older I get, the less I know”.......

This documentary really affected me and I felt ill and scared about what has been going on, what is going on and what continues to go on. I felt ignorant but most of all I felt guilty. I love seafood, it has to be my all-time favourite food.

You know, all through my childhood I was vegetarian and toyed with veganism. I was never a big fan of the taste of meat anyway but as a child, I felt an obligation towards animals and wanted to protect them, this carried into adulthood. I never gave a thought to the ocean though and what was happening to our beloved creatures here. This all seems ridiculous because from the age of 17 I’ve lived by the ocean; surfed, dived, snorkeled and even began studying science at uni to become a marine biologist.

Watching this movie made me feel like a hypocrite, Here I am selling towels made out of recycled plastic bottles, I’ve been preaching about the importance of recycling and the rubbish we put into the ocean yet here I was chowing down on my tins of salmon and tuna every few days not realising that the fishing industry creates 46% of our oceans pollution. Not only is the fishing industry guilty of this but the lies we’ve been fed for so many years that encourage us to continue supporting this cutthroat industry.

There was so much about this documentary that affected me that I don’t even know what disturbed me the most. What I do know is that after watching this movie I can now make more educated choices on where I buy my seafood and who I buy it from. I believe buying from the local fisheries is definitely the way to go. I’ve stopped buying tinned fish and seafood and all global seafood companies are off my list. It’s local all the way.

If you haven’t watched this film yet, take some time out and watch it, it’s well worth it and a huge eye-opener.