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British actor, comedian and author Stephen Fry has partnered with Blue Marine, a charity dedicated to restoring the ocean to health, in calling on the new government to take urgent action to protect the ocean, within its first 100 days in office.
To take action, please click on this link and enter your postcode to find your local MP. The website will provide you with the contact details of your MP, their email, address and X account, where available.
Stephen Fry has narrated this video that Blue Marine has launched on social media and their website. Fry emphasises the key role of the ocean and urges immediate action: “Our ocean sustains all life on earth. It provides us with food and helps stabilise our climate, yet it is in peril. We must act now.”
The campaign, ´Seas the Day,’ backed by Stephen Fry, calls on people across the country to contact their local MP, asking them to pledge three main actions to protect the UK ocean:
1. Ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas.
Bottom trawling damages the seabed, seagrass meadows and other marine habitats, while indiscriminately catching fish – lots of the time species not even meant for the net. This just can’t go on in areas supposedly ‘protected.’
2. End overfishing by bringing fishing catch limits within scientific advice.
Overfishing depletes fish stocks faster than they can reproduce, which leads to population decline and, at times, collapse. Last year, over half of the quotas set by the government were above the advice of scientists.
3. Finish social inequality by reforming how quota is allocated in UK fishing.
Two thirds of the fishing quota is owned by just 25 companies. This inequality means the local small-scale fisheries are losing while a few large industrial-sized organisations line their pockets. This has got to stop if we are to end overfishing and bring our ocean back to health, benefiting both people and the planet.
The relevance of the campaign motivated Stephen Fry to highlight: “In partnership with Blue Marine Foundation, we’ve outlined three critical asks for the ocean: to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas, to end overfishing by bringing fishing catch limits within scientific advice, and to commit to reforming social inequality in UK fishing. These requests address some of the most devastating environmental disasters happening not just under our noses, but within our control. The time to act is now; reach out to your local MP and tell them we won’t stand idly while the ocean suffers.”
Stephen´s video concludes by encouraging everyone to play their part: “Our ocean needs you. Please join Blue Marine to help protect it for future generations.”
