Save our Oceans

http://www.theonion.com/articles/officials-urge-americans-to-sort-plastics-glass-in,38016/

Send them to me and I will do it. Then I will show you an easy way to edit them.
Brian
running tide yachts at gmail dot com

Uploading these graphs on behalf of Judy...

This is from 2008, 7 years ago. http://www.yachtforums.com/index.php?threads/plastic-bags-and-our-water-world.9525/#post-69404 . Is it getting better yet?

"Maybe they should consider a return fee on all cigarette butts - something like 5 cents a piece, those things thrown about the land/seascape will take years to disintegrate!"
PacBlue, this really made me laugh, because I was waiting for it. Cigarettes cost about $0.50 a pack. The additional $9.50 is taxes. So you think that adding another $1.00 a pack will cure the situation (and not just fill some fat cat's pocket)? You think that 1/4" x 1" filters are the cause of the problem, as opposed to the plastic in your car or your milk carton or the plastic packaging surrounding your food and everything else you buy?
One of the main reasons I still smoke is because it ticks off the anti-smoking campaign which is a bunch of passive-aggressives who seek to control those around them, but don't have the guts to get into a person's grill. Cigarettes have, comparatively speaking, almost no effect on the environment.

So how about we tax the cr-- out of the plastic manufactures, and make them pay for the cleanup. That would push us back to using glass and cardboard, renewable and easily recycled products. Oh yeah, there's money to be made in polluting and the plastics industry has one heck of a lobby. THAT'S why nothing will be done about it.

This thread has been moved to the Yacht Club.

The poor are eating fish sticks at McDonalds made from Pacific Pollack, one of the most plentiful species in our oceans. Dare you to try to find that on high end restaurant menus. The biggest joy of opulence is to destroy the most rare things on earth for your amusement, simply because you can. If you want to save our oceans it'll take a lot of very uncomfortable and unprofitable conversations around some high-end dinner tables. I don't see that happening. It's like the "carbon credits" of a few years ago. What a joke that was. It's ok to destroy our world if you're willing to pay a little more. It's much easier and more profitable to pretend to do something by adding to the taxes paid by the poor for their few sources of entertainment like cigarettes and basic TV than to actually do something like going after the plastics manufacturers. Think for a moment about all the non-biodegradable things in just one yacht, starting with the hull. Where will your boat be 20 or 30 years from now when its lifespan is done. If you're not willing to make the hard choices, your just spinning your wheels for show.

Is anyone else surprised that it takes 200 years for an aluminum can to decompose?

Not at all, and that's part of the beauty of it. A) It's easy to recycle no matter when found, and B) It doesn't break down like plastics do. The problem with plastics is way more than the fishing line snagging whales or the 6 pack rings strangling turtles. It brakes down into microscopic particles that get ingested by the foundations of our ecosystems. The little eats the plastic. The big eats the little. The bigger eats the big. By the time it gets to your plate....well, good luck. Instead of actually addressing the real problem we're turning to farm raised fish. So I guess we don't really need species like swordfish, sailfish, marlin, shark, whales, etc.

Hi all,

This subject is so big and diverse and good to see it main stream its own thread on YachtForums. Mind boggling it is the thought of how to tackle it because of all the factors causing this ordeal. Then it is the actions that are already taking place and those that are needed to be done, things as simple as petitions for instance, which there are hundreds of them on the Internet that one can easily sign in a minute, I get notifications about those many times everyday. And there are the involved politics, which will easily derail any conversation and cause problems rather than pause solutions.

My main three concerns, lets call them the top 3 on my own list, are:

1) Over fishing.
On all levels, from big net dredges with diamond meshes scraping deeper for more fish, regardless of by-catch or anything else, to examples of so called "Sport Fishermen" that don't oblige to quotas or land any fish even the ones they intend to release. One incident happened with me back in 2004, I was invited on a CC by two cousins I'm friends with and two other friends or their's, one of their friends went on bashing every fish on the gunnel before throwing them back into water! Despite my continuous warnings and such, to the point that I grabbed him by the head, bashed him to the head rest and pushed him overboard, when he surfaced, I asked: Would you like to try a hard knock and see if you'll live to be fished later? To him, like many people, especially those that only consume fish, it is just a stupid fish! Not an essential part of an Eco system. Can't blame them because professional companies working the waters act by the same manner. There is a great lack of perception of reality of the waters and its inhabitants right down to plankton.

I work in the hospitality industry, especially restaurants and I'm a chef by profession, it hurts me to see imported over-fished ill kept fish, that is then marketed as the "Best' and "Tastiest" by corporations and culinary professional working for their benefit. Same story found around any other natural resource that those with power and influence abuse for their own interest.

We have to mention that there are many communities around the world that are centered around the consumption of fish, and those are the least guided regarding conservation and are the most effected by the consequences. If we will turn our backs to those today, we have to be ready to live with the change they will face in the near future and will be forced to support them and share what ever short resources we will have then.

Before we lose tuna, sword fish, shark, whale, seal, herring, cod, ling, marlin, Perch, etc. Something should be said and done. I think that even if the fish is labeled as Endangered only, its fishing should be banned all together. I say so, because this was somewhat effective in the UK after a total ban for ten years, it is still under alleged restrictions of quotas, sizes and fishing locations. It will not harm us if we go on a no fish diet for few years, and Tilapia farmers will be happy to supply more of what can, with the use of right chemical additions, taste so darn close to fish!

2) Fish Farms.
A remedy to over fishing that is even worse than the main problem! Concentration camp for fish, that is what they are, fed crap alongside what ever chemicals needed to increase the size and volume yield. Parasites and viruses infesting the waters and killing other marine life, all under government cover despite all the work scientists put through and all the documentaries done on the subject, it is one of those lobby force matters that won't have an end. Just check how many imported pre-packaged mislabeled products there are in stores around you and ask your self, how many people know what are they really eating? Or even think they are eating.

3) Marine Pollution. Namely waste and debris.
Now what ever fish left we have is gonna be polluted, this is a corporate promise from the high rollers. Rising mercury, acids from mines and plants, and the great garbage patches, to name a very few. The latter two need regulations, fines and in some cases being banned. Enough plastic, more recycling, more awareness on top of everything. Five years back, had an idea about gathering garbage from those patches, it was promising, but it is not only the collection, what next? You can't imagine the big stiff one you get if you try to undertake recycling the collection, all of a sudden, you'll be the one paying the price of other's pollution. Then why do we still need all those amounts of virgin polymers while we still have plastics floating around that carry signatures from the 1800's?!! We are loosing our humanity and well being over earthly profits. Shameful.

I only see a grim future, but nonetheless, we should at least say we tried and weren't silently complacent.

Sorry for such a long post and thanks for reading.

Cheers.

@NEO56

Thank you for your kind words Neo, this subject hits lots of cords in my life. Like you and others around here my connection to sea makes me ache at what is going on, and while I am not so pro of being politically correct, over the years, I've found it to keep a good conversation, (with the right group), alive and prosperous.

Having wasted 2 years and valuable resources on ocean pollution, over fishing and the state of developed communities based on and around water, I came on to the harsh fact that most regulations and bans are mere publicity material that governments use to claim that they "care" and "try", while what happens far away from your shorelines and in foreign waters exploited under wars and other man-made tragedies, is so far from their claims and profiteering propaganda. This is why I always say we need to spread awareness at the very basic individual level, this will make each person scream "wolf" when one is in sight, raising the sound of reality and truth, thus giving way to more REAL laws and bans, and most of all, the enforcement of such on an International level for the sake of humanity as whole.

For the past ten years, the Internet and collaborative social media has proven to be a powerful medium in spreading knowledge and unifying the intellectual grounds in a way that is uplifting, (somewhat), the common understanding and allowing all kinds of voices to be heard. A proof of effectiveness is found in the current efforts of major security agencies around the world for monitoring, controlling and when "necessary" limiting this 'new-found' freedom of expression module. YachtForums can do something; at the very least, stating a genuine worry as touched and felt by those whom give a great deal of their life being on the water and living the boaters life. This thread should stay alive, and positive I might add.

Thank you again for your compliment and for reading along.

Cheers.

The last couple threads that involved "the cove" were locked. Perhaps we could avoid straying down that path here. It's a bit dark for the forum, and more of a moral issue than a direct ecological issue.

Did I read AlfredZ's post correctly, he grabbed a guys head, banged it against a seat and then threw him overboard just to make a point.

It's one thing to be passionate but why do those who think they can save the world also think they are above the law.

I don't think any of us who are connected to the water would support the killing of the dolphins or the seal pup slaughter or the whale hunting but throwing somebody off a boat to make your point is a bit ridicules or ramming a whaling ship with a much smaller vessel is stupidity.

Would that young actress who was arrested at the dolphin slaughter not made a bigger impact if she and her rich young friends had spent their millions doing something different if it was not for the publicity she got for herself.

Stopping NYCAP from throwing his butt's into the water is one small step for mankind (lol) but also getting NEO to pay for real shrimp is another.

Are we going to stop eating beef because the cows are in huge feed pens before slaughter, do we all take reusable bags to the grocery store instead of using the plastic bags. Are we all buying electric cars or boats. Do those of us in sunny climates have solar panels.

How many of us out on the water stop each time to pick up rubbish we see, how many of us volunteer to clean up the beaches, rivers and canals.

Is every cleaner used to wash down your boat safe to be washed clean over into the water. Is that anti-fouling safe or would you rather have none but pay a diver to clean the bottom each time you want to use your boat. Do we all have oily water separators on our boats to ensure not a drip of oil or pollutant goes into the water. What happens to all the stuff pumped out of holding tanks 3 miles or greater offshore. Look into your shower sumps and think of all the rest of the stuff you have pumped directly into the water sitting in a marina.

There is one thing for those of us who can be afford to be selective to pay for organic food or fresh fish but what about the masses, McDonalds would not have their so called fish sandwich on their menu if there was not a market for it.

I shake my head when I am in a store and look at the fish displays and see, say Cod, with a sign on it saying "never frozen", how can a fish like that be caught in the northern waters, brought ashore and transported down to Florida and be sold as fresh.

We do have to start from somewhere but throwing people over the side of a boat is not one way.


Now if we could just get NYCAP from throwing his butt's into the water......

Some great posts by our esteemed members. I think this pretty much exemplifies why we avoid politically charged subjects unrelated to the forum topic. In the best interest of our community, it's best to get back to big boats. This thread is closed.