The ocean is our lung. Its protection is vital.
And it’s very simple: all we need to do is stop destroying it.
Our lives, the water cycle, droughts, extreme weather events, agricultural production and the entire Earth system are all closely linked to the health of the ocean, but the ocean is in bad shape. Climate change is hitting ecosystems that have been battered by decades of devastation to marine animals and habitats. This is caused by industrial fishing, which is recognized as the leading cause of ocean destruction.
The ocean is our planet’s lifeblood. We have no choice but to urgently protect the entity that houses 98% of the Earth’s water, and upon which humans and all living beings depend. Without the ocean, the climate would collapse.
Protecting the ocean is simple: it’s its destruction that is costing us dearly.
As well as destroying biodiversity and ecosystems, trawlers, which are akin to underwater bulldozers, consume an enormous amount of diesel. Yet we’re the ones who are paying their fuel bills with our taxes! Without public subsidies, trawling would simply disappear. Trawlers generate three times fewer jobs than the selective fishing methods used by artisanal fishers and are three to four times less profitable.
We urgently need to move away from this nonsensical and destructive practice to save the ocean and French fishers, but unless hundreds of thousands of us demand an end to the destruction of the ocean, our voices won’t be heard.
The EU has the world's largest maritime space and our lives depend on the ocean.
Europe must set an example when it comes to protecting the ocean.
At the dawn of a new European mandate, we are calling the European institutions and EU Member states to commit to 15 points that will save the ocean, the climate and jobs, and to start by implementing three urgent measures of public interest:
- The obvious: ban trawling in so-called “protected” marine areas (which are not actually protected in the slightest!)
- The common sense: stop subsidizing destructive fishing methods and instead use public money to enable the social, ecological and inclusive transition of the fishing sector towards methods that stop damaging and scarring the ocean.
- The social justice: protect ecosystems and coastal fishers by excluding industrial ships over 25 meters long from the French coastline (a strip of 12 nautical miles, about 22km)
Our voices can be heard, but above all, they must be heard. The clock is ticking and we have no other choice. Let’s reach victory together.
