Descriptions of organizations come largely from their own websites. Any group's views and actions in their entirety do not necessarily represent the opinions of Blue Planet Links Foundation. BPL's mission is to promote sustainably healthy ocean and fresh water, and to the best of our knowledge, the listed organizations share this objective.
© 2012 Blue Planet Links
Aquaculture & fishing
Links to organizations promoting healthy
oceans and fresh waters
Look around: we are deliberately (or thoughtlessly) turning our water sources, shorelines and fish habitats TOXIC. We're ignoring climate change, using water like crazy, thinking short-term.
But some people are fighting back, thinking ahead, spreading the word, and winning battles that can make our children's world will better. Find out more below:
Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform
http://www.farmedanddangerous.org
A collaboration of the Pacific coast conservation community, First Nations, and commercial fishers works towards developing a salmon farming industry that is safe for humans and the environment in British Columbia, the world's 4th largest producer of farmed salmon. Aims to protect against destructive fish farming practices and to encourage the fish farming industry to adopt new technology, change to environment-friendly practices and to respect local communities. In January 2006 a breakthough came with an agreement between CAAR and Canada's biggest fish farmer to research jointly and openly the issue of sea lice infestations in wild salmon near fish farms, and the feasibility of contained-pen farming. Marine Harvest Canada also agreed to move its most contentious farm, with compensation from the provincial government.
For the Sake of the Salmon
http://4sos.org/
Washington, Oregon and California is the focus of this group, which works to restore salmon to levels that ensure healthy, sustainable populations and support productive fisheries. Provides Watershed and Community Support, Regional Facilitation between government, environmental and community groups, and advocates "Salmon Friendly Power".
Georgia Strait Alliance
http://www.georgiastrait.org
Aim of the organization is to protect and restore the marine environment and promote sustainability in the Georgia Strait, along the south coast of British Columbia, and its adjoining waters and communities. Web site includes a new list of Vancouver-area restaurants serving only wild (no farmed) salmon.
Greenpeace: Defending our Oceans
www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans Greenpeace actively campaigns against threats to the ocean (industrialized fishing, global warming, pollution, unfair fisheries and over-fishing), and for national governments to recognize these threats and legislate to mitigate them.
Living Oceans Society
http://www.livingoceans.org
Devoted to "the conservation of marine biodiversity and the creation of sustainable fisheries through ecosystem-based management of our oceans". Focuses include Marine Protected Areas, Offshore Oil and Gas Industries and The Living Reef, a project to conduct a census of British Columbia's reef sealife by enlisting the help of divers and snorklers. LOS' Ocean Information Centre offers easy facts and figures. And they've produced Fish for Thought, an Eco-cookbook, including fish-friendly (no endangered species here) recipes from stars such as Sara McLachlan and restaurateur Umberto Menghi.
Mangrove Action Project
http://earthisland.org/map/
Mangrove forests, which grow in tropical intertidal areas and estuary mouths, constitute a critical habitat for a a diverse marine ecology, but are rapidly disappearing and degrading as a result of development, charcoal and timber industries, and a burgeoning, unregulated shrimp/prawn farming industry. MAP's 400 NGOs and 250 scientists from 60 nations are engaged in the restoration and protection of mangrove forests, in education, and in working towards a sustainable aquaculture through regulation and eco-friendly practices.
Ocean Wise
http://www.oceanwisecanada.org
"What looks great on the plate may not be a good choice for the ocean." This site provides a list of environmentally responsible seafoods, as well as if-you-eat-you-help-deplete choices.
Raincoast Conservation Society
http://www.raincoast.org
Non-profit British Columbia research and public education group promoting an ecosystem approach to fisheries and watershed management. Click on WILD SALMON for a paper on the effects of various policies and industries on salmon runs, and FISH FARMING for comments on that industry.
Raincoast Research
http://raincoastresearch.org
Biologist Alexandra Morton studied the orca and dolphins off British Columbia's coast, and gradually became alarmed at the decline in local whale populations, eventually becoming a whistle-blower to alert the public and governments to the threats to indigenous whale and fish species. Argues fervently against unregulated, open netcage aquaculture.
Seaweb
http://www.seaweb.org
Non-profit independent social marketing organization dedicated to conserving healthy seas and sustainable sealife. In Jan. 2006, CITES banned global trading in wild sturgeon caviar, partly a result of Seaweb's Caviar Emptor campaign.
SOS Marine Conservation Foundation
http://www.saveoursalmon.ca/
Independent group working to conserve the wild salmon and habitats on BC's coast, by encouraging innovation in aquaculture and development of closed containment fin fish farming in place of open-net cage operations.
T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation
http://www.bucksuzuki.org
Protecting the marine environment for commercial fishing and wild fish, the organization advocates contained fish farms, labelling of farmed fish, improved drainage and water treatment systems, and fights industrial water pollution."
Tides Canada
Tides Canada has created the Salmon Aquaculture Innovation Fund to help develop alternative models to traditional open-net aquaculture, with the goal of protecting wild salmon while building a viable, sustainable aquaculture industry.
World Rainforest Movement
http://wrm.org.uy/
Uurguay-based WRM works to secure the lands and livelihoods of forest peoples and supports their efforts to defend rain forests from such threats as commercial logging and shrimp farming. Click on MANGROVE FORESTS & SHRIMP FARMING for articles on coastal mangrove forests and sustainable shrimp aquaculture.
"My own contribution is
just a drop in the bucket
–but together our drops
make a flood"
A single person can make a difference, but sometimes it takes a group.
More voices, more money, more workers can influence a government to change its policies... can produce materials that will make people think... can galvanize public opinion to stop habitat devastation or prevent water quality degradation.
Some groups have a particular focus: surfers want clean beaches; marine biologists and fishers alike want thriving ocean habitats; canoeists want clear, clean lakes; broad-based environmental groups may concentrate on a specific location.