michellefrey

On the last day of the Boston Seafood Show our school of fish gave out awards to those dealers with the most unsustainable fishery practices. After being at the show for three days, it was pretty clear who the worst ocean offenders were.

Our school of fish went up to each of the winner’s booths and congratulated them on their award and slapped the award up on their booth. “I’m a dying species,” said the bluefin tuna, “I give you this award on behalf of my fellow fish and ask you to improve your practices so my family will be saved.”

Many of the winners were really happy at first when they received their award. They smiled and thanked us. But, their faces quickly turned grim when they actually read the award and the offenses they were being charged with.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” said the orange roughy. “You better get a good look at us, take a picture even, because we won’t be around much longer.”

 
It was clear that we had gotten our message across. People took pictures and gathered around the booths while the awards were given out. Our activity is sure to have a ripple effect as the unsustainable seafood awards story makes its way around the offices of the seafood dealers and sellers.

Other than smelling like a giant fish stick by the end of three days at the Boston Seafood Show, I also took away some interesting information. We talked to many, many people from all corners of the seafood business. And, most, if not all of them agreed that sustainable seafood practices were absolutely the way to go. But, they insisted they were sustainable, themselves. They were quick to point the finger at other dealers and sellers and tell us how “green” they were.

But, that logic just didn’t make sense. The first step in a recovery process is to admit the problem at hand. We haven’t quite gotten there with the seafood sellers, but at least we started a dialog with them. And, now they know that Greenpeace (and it’s awesome supporters) are keeping an eye on them – holding them accountable to be better stewards for the ocean environment.

Ocean protection starts with all of us. We need to succeed because our oceans are in serious trouble and need our help to survive.

--Michelle

Yesterday, we pulled out the karaoke machine and our endangered fish sang their hearts out! They were singing to save their species from destructive fishing, tuning in to the seafood buyers and sellers as they walked by the Greenpeace booth.

As you can see from the photo, this orange roughy is giving the song all she’s got. As she tailored the words to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” to “Fish Just Wanna Stay Alive” visitors to our booth got the message loud and clear.

These fish also have a message for you… You can help too. Greenpeace needs to find out what seafood is being sold in your grocery stores. Are they selling fish from the Greenpeace Red List? Do they have a sustainable seafood policy? We need you to be our eyes and ears in you community.

I took the survey to my grocery store a couple of weeks ago and it was really easy. I just printed out the survey that we have posted online. I walked up to the seafood counter with my survey and my trusty pen. Then, I scanned the fish in the glass display, referencing the fish on my survey. If I saw a fish on the survey that was also in my store, I knew I had just obtained information that could help Greenpeace with their seafood campaign.

I even put the call out to my friends and family to help. My mom goes to the grocery store a couple times a week. So, she was excited to help out. She said she was nervous that someone was going to ask her what she was doing checking out their seafood, but no one actually did. She was a super sleuth and you can be a super sleuth too.

It really takes about 10-20 minutes to scan your seafood counter and frozen fish cases.

Our singing fishes will croon for you – if you can spare the time to help out!

On the second day of the Boston Seafood Show I decided to walk around to the other booths to see what was on display. To my surprise, one dealer had a banner advertising shark fin! I also found many examples of other fish from the Greenpeace red list including orange roughy, monkfish and swordfish.

So far, the people here have been very friendly to us. Our ocean campaigners are talking with them and seeing some common ground. The seafood sellers and dealers recognize the need for healthy oceans and sustainable practices. For the most part, they don’t disagree with us there. Where our campaigners are seeing a divide is on the way to get from how they are doing business now to how to get to a more sustainable business. We are trying to talk to them to bridge that gap. We are continuing to get our perspective out there and continue to push for more sustainable fisheries.

People are also really enjoying our fish costumes. Many have stopped by to ask if they can try it on and have their picture taken – glady!

Later on this afternoon our booth will be filled with a school of singing fish! That’s right, our fish are feeling musically inclined. They will belt out tunes on the Greenpeace karaoke machine, tailoring the words slightly to hit our target audience.

Stay tuned for pictures of the singing fish – you won’t want to miss that.

--Michelle

If you’re wondering where all the fish have gone – I think I might have found them here in Boston at the International Seafood Show. The convention center is filled with thousands of people and even more fish on display. As I sit here at Greenpeace’s booth at the show, I notice the people in the booth next to me are selling some sort of device that makes ice to help cool seafood once it’s caught from the ocean.

Everyone here is trying to sell something – whether it’s fish from their company or devices that will help chill, store or catch seafood. And, Greenpeace is here in the mix trying to get all these seafood buyers and sellers to really think about the big picture – saving the oceans they are profiting from pillaging.

While the sellers are trying to maximize their profits, Greenpeace is trying to educate them about the declining health of the ocean and how they play a big role in helping to turn the tide. We are encouraging them to stay away from Red List species and to adopt sustainable seafood practices in all their company operations.

What better way to get the attention of fish-heads, than to have some life-sized fish walking around and greeting them when they arrived at the seafood show? Our friendly fish handed out Greenpeace flyers and invited each person to come stop by our booth to chat with us more about sustainable seafood and how they can help protect the oceans by “greening-up” their seafood processes.

Will they be up for the challenge? We’ve got three days to find out… Stay tuned.