Frequently asked questions…
Why just focus on Channel Island waters when the whole ocean needs saving?
In total, there is about 140 million square miles of ocean on this planet & some of it is almost 7 miles deep. That is a huge amount of water and frankly there are too many problems facing all of it for us to be anywhere near effective at trying to help it all. By focusing our attention directly onto the waters around us all, the ones we see & experience every day, we should be able to make effective, visible changes that benefit us all.
Improving the health of our waters locally will also have a positive affect on the health of all of the oceans as it will contribute to the small number of healthy & protected areas of the ocean around the globe., This will allow fish & marine species that can be safe here to venture out into the wider oceans & contribute to the restocking of species, as well as ensuring that - at least within our territorial waters - the ecosystem is able to operate as it should, providing benefits to the entire planet.
Protecting & improving the health of our local waters will provide a positive example to other locations that returning their waters to pre 1600AD levels is good for both marine life & the Human species.
Do you eat fish? / Should I?
No & probably not.
This is a question that appears tougher to answer than it really is. Firstly no, the founders of The Ghost Seas Project no longer eat fish. Please understand I said “no longer” because we used to, we used to enjoy it very much. In fact we have caught & eaten the freshest yellowfin tuna you can imagine, from hook to plate in under five minutes, & enjoyed it immensely. But here is the real truth, that fish was caught in the pristine waters of a group of Indonesian islands barely touched by humans, where human waste & human’s waste had yet to encroach upon the naturally pure water.
The reality of the fish the general public is eating is very different, especially in the Channel Islands, where human excrement is quite literally pumped out to sea on a daily basis & one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes operates day & night just offshore. All ocean species feed in some way on the particulate matter that flows through the waters, whether as filter feeding organisms or the predatory fish that eat them, so if there is human waste in the water it is going to work its way into the food chain in one way or another. As the self proclaimed “top of the food chain” humans are essentially eating their own waste if their diet includes anything from the sea. If you are eating tinned fish you have even more things to worry about, mainly that the label on the tin may or may not fully explain what is actually in there (fresh healthy tuna does not look anything like those brown flakes I can promise you) & so you are putting your trust in an unknown entity to have filled that can with none of the by- catch (other species like dolphins etc) or waste products (heads, eyes, bones) that come from preparing fish for consumption.
In addition to these health concerns there is the very real problem of overfishing in an industry that values money over longevity. The simple fact of the matter - a fact that no one who is getting paid to supply fish is ever going to admit, for obvious reasons - is that the ocean is not the inexhaustible bounty of fish we once believed it to be, & for nearly 500 years we have drained it at a rate that no species could ever hope to replenish.
The trajectory for oceanic populations is only going to go one way if we continue with our current practices & that way is down, until there is nothing left to catch. This will happen in your lifetime & the human race will have to face a situation where eating seafood is no longer an option.
In short, if we don’t - as an entire species - find a way to eat more sustainably from the sea there will come a time when eating from the sea is nothing but a memory, never to return.
By reducing or halting your seafood consumption now you can play your part in slowing the industrial fishing machine enough that oceanic species are given time to fight back.
How long do we have to save the oceans?
By current estimates there will be more plastic in the oceans by 2050 than fish. That figure alone should be shocking enough, but that figure (as often quoted by the media) doesn’t take into account that catch numbers in the UK peaked way back in 1938 & fish stocks (both catch numbers & the size of fish being caught) have seen a rapid decline since then.
It is estimated that in just the last 200 years humans have removed up to 90% of marine life from the oceans & at our current rate we may see an ocean completely devoid of fish BEFORE that 2050 plastic date. Whilst ocean life will no doubt limp on past that point - hardier & less harvested species like seaweeds & shellfish will last longer - an ocean devoid of both fish & marine mammals is essentially a dead ocean, the ecosystem cannot survive without its main occupants.
So how long do we have?
Honestly, we needed to fix this 100 years ago. We can only try our hardest now to preserve the very last of what is left in the hope that these species can rebound once they are afforded more protection. If we don’t, your grandchildren’s children may never get to see an oceanic fish.
What sort of condition are our waters currently in?
In situations like this there are always differing opinions… Some people (usually those who make money from the oceans) will tell you everything is fine & there’s nothing to worry about.
These people are liars.
The oceans are currently experiencing a multifaceted onslaught from a number of factors including rising sea temperatures, rising levels of acidification, rising levels of chemicals from agriculture run off, rising amounts of plastic, and rising amounts of unnatural fecal matter, all the result of human society. In contrast to this, the ocean is being depleted of enormous numbers of marine species on a daily basis, meaning there are less & less species in the oceans able to fight back against the incoming threats, Again this is down to human society & our craving for fish & other fish by-products.
Sitting on the surface looking out over the sea it might be easy to convince yourself that everything is well, but take a look underneath & you will very quickly realise this is far from the truth. The oceans below the surface - the ocean environment we see on a daily basis - are often a deserted, lifeless place & no amount of positive marketing is going to change that.
The oceans need direct, preservation focused action NOW.
Where does my donated money go?
As a non-profit all donations are used to finance our programs & projects (many of which you can read about on this website or in our blog/social media channels) or to buy supplies to carry out those activities. We work with volunteers & are staffed by volunteers so no wages are paid to any of our team members. As a result you can be sure that each & every penny donated to The Ghost Seas Project is spent on furthering our goal of preserving, protecting & reinvigorating the ocean environment around the Channel Islands.
There are several ways to donate to The Ghost Seas Project & you can find out about those here.
If we allow the oceans to regenerate, replacing things like sharks, will that put humans more at risk of attack?
Minimally, maybe… But here’s a better question, What’s the difference between dying from a one in a billion shark attack & suffocating alongside every other human on the planet?
Now is not the time to get caught up in Hollywood induced paranoia. Jaws was a good film but it was a dramatisation, designed to scare & shock. Let’s not let one film cause the extinction of our species.
What’s the point in doing this, you won’t stop industry or human progress?
If I told you that climbing out of a well was the only way to live to see another day, would you ask what the point is? Whilst a relatively small project like this cannot hope to compete against the funding & power of the mighty corporations, many world changing events have taken place due to small numbers of people coming together in order to stand up for what is best for us all. The world is currently experiencing a generational shift towards a deep concern for & action towards stemming the tide of human influenced global climate change & now is the perfect time to harness that shift in opinion & work towards a better planet for us all. There will be fights throughout this project of course, some we will lose & others we will not, but even the smallest difference we can make can help towards a future of oceanic preservation & protection.
Simply, by not trying we are signing our own death warrant.
We are not prepared to do that & so we will fight.
Are you against all fishing?
Not at all. We just believe targeted spear and rod fishing is the only true way to fish. Whilst there are arguments around the mortality rates of catch and release fish, sustenance fishing absolutely has a place in our society - we are islanders after all and have traditionally lived from the sea. There are some species however that can not sustain repeated harvesting or accidental catch and release and part of our mission is to try to work with local fisherman to identify and protect (in many cases temporarily) certain ‘at risk’ species. We are fully against industrial fishing in our waters however and will fight for the reduction & removal of this practice as a priority.
Why are you using 1600AD as a marker for ocean health?
Obviously it is impossible to know the exact date that humanity began to have an adverse effect on the health of the oceans, but you could argue that when whaling began in the early 1800’s the human species very quickly began to tip the scales towards destruction. With the invention of pair trawling later in the 1900’s - & industrial fishing after that - it’s fairly safe to assume that no human born since 1850 has ever laid eyes on an ocean as plentiful as nature intended. There are however historical records of seas so plentiful that ships could not take shelter in bays due to the shear number of whales swimming in them, & of observations of dolphin pods & fish shoals so dense you could see nothing else upon the surface. By choosing 1600AD we are aiming to not only return the ocean to the state it was in before humans began their destructive ways but to return to a time when the ocean regulated itself, free from the intrusion of any human activities, besides those of sustenance fishing.
I’m not a fisherman or a boat owner or a swimmer, what does this have to do with me?
If you are part of the 100% of humans who breathe oxygen then the health of the ocean has a whole lot to do with you! The ocean creates over 70% of all oxygen on this planet & it can only do this if it is a healthy, productive ecosystem working in the way nature intended. In fact it is estimated that the ocean itself is currently experiencing a drop in oxygen levels & this could reach a rate of almost a 5% drop by the end of this century alone. Less oxygen in the oceans means smaller fish, less fish & more oxygen depleting things like algae blooms. This will only accelerate the collapse of the ecosystem & ensure the problem gets exponentially worse.
As humans we are dependant on the sea for our very survival & assuming you are a human reading this then this is very much your problem, whether you “use” the ocean or not.
Join us in the fight to save our oceanic waters
The ocean is this beautiful, unexplored place. Why on Earth everyone isn't down there, I don't know.