Paint a Fish to help restore our fish stocks

EU citizens send fish paintings to MEPs, asking them to commit to sustainable fisheries

Thousands of European citizens - including many school children - are painting fish and emailing it to their MEPs, in an effort to save European fish stocks from overfishing.

The campaign is timed with a once-in-a-decade opportunity to save European oceans, when next week MEPs will vote to reform the EU Common Fisheries Policy and decide whether we let fish stocks recover or decline.

Two-thirds of EU fish stocks are currently overfished. Overfishing in Europe not only puts the survival of many fish species in jeopardy, it costs EU economies 1,800 million euros each year, which could support tens of thousands of jobs.

The Paint a Fish campaign initiated by the New Economics Foundation (nef) has joined up with WWF to organise an e-action that allows citizens to email their fish directly to the MEPs. The campaign already counts with the support of major organisations including BirdLife International and OCEAN2012 coalition as well as dozens of schools and aquariums across Europe.

Fernanda Balata, Campaigner at the New Economics Foundation says: “The way we fish now is unsustainable. The good news is this problem is solvable. If we managed our stocks better we could ensure a sustainable supply of fish for future generations, and create more and better jobs for fishermen.”

The campaign’s long-term objective is to educate and engage younger generations in the protection of fish stocks. The nef and Digital Explorer have created a set of educational resources to help teachers and schools plan lessons on sustainable fisheries.

Fernanda adds: “It is key that in this upcoming vote EU leaders commit to restore fish stocks as quickly as biologically possible. In addition, we want to ensure that young generations are informed and prepared to protect our fish stocks in the future.”

By painting a fish at www.paintafish.org, anyone can add their voice to calls to end overfishing. The fish will be sent to European politicians ahead of the vote to remind them what is at stake.

Fernanda finishes: “We can't make the right decision for them, but we can show them we want to preserve our oceans for future generations.”

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About Paint a Fish

The Paint a Fish campaign aims at engaging and educating the younger generations in the protection of fish stocks. Launched in October 2012 to run throughout 2013, the campaign is timed with the final stages of the reform of Common Fisheries Policy, which is a once in 10-year opportunity to lay the foundations of sustainable fisheries in Europe.

Another key goal of the campaign is to educate younger generations in sustainable fisheries. To support this goal, in addition to the Paint a Fish activity guidance, the nef (new economics foundation) and Digital Explorer developed a set of educational resources to help teachers and schools plan two lessons on sustainable fisheries. Both the Paint a Fish guidance and the sustainable fisheries resources are available for free from the Resources for Schools section of the Paint a Fish website.

Paint a Fish is an initiative by nef’s Environment Programme that over the past years has been carrying research to demonstrate the economic benefits of sustainable fisheries management. Nef’s reports have played a key role in raising public awareness and informing policy-making to ensure EU fisheries are managed for public benefit.

Their reports Fish Dependence; Jobs Lost at Sea; Money Overboard; Value Slipping through the Net and No Catch Investment have received wide media coverage across the UK and Europe and have been taken into account in various policy processes.

Some highlights from nef’s research include:

• Restoring EU fish stocks could generate £2,700 million a year which could support 100,000 jobs. Source: Jobs Lost at Sea (http://www.neweconomics.org/node/1968)

• Within just 5 years we could have more – and more sustainable – fish supply from EU waters than what we have now. Source: No Catch Investment (http://www.neweconomics.org/nocatchinvestment)

• Investing in EU fish stock restoration is profitable delivering a 50% return (get 1.5 Pound per 1 Pound invested) after 10 years and up to 1400% return (14 £ per 1 £ invested) after 40 years. Source: No Catch Investment (http://www.neweconomics.org/nocatchinvestment)

• The UK is a net importer of fish. But it could become a net exporter of fish if it restored fish stocks to their Maximum Sustainable Yield. Source: Fish Dependence (http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/fish-dependence)

• For every tonne of North Sea cod landed, trawlers delivered negative value ranging from -£116 for the smallest trawlers to almost -£2,000 for the largest. Gillnets, on the other hand, generated a net +£865 of value. Trawlers landed almost 6,000 tonnes of cod, while gillnets landed less than 3 per cent of this – just 163 tonnes. Source: Value Slipping through the Net (http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/value-slipping-through-the-net)

Find out more about the Paint a Fish campaign at www.paintafish.org

‘Like’ Paint a Fish on Facebook (www.facebook.com/paintafish)
Follow Paint a Fish on Twitter (@paintafish)

To find our more about the new economics foundation, please visit http://www.neweconomics.org/

More information about Paint a Fish and to request images
Fernanda Balata, Campaigner, nef
paintafish@neweconomics.org

nef (the new economics foundation)
3 Jonathan Street, London SE11 5NH
Registered Company No. 319 3399
Registered Charity No. 1055254
t: 0207 820 6389 f: 020 7820 6301

Nef press and public affairs
Ross Haig
ross.haig@neweconomics.org
+44 (0) 207 820 6399

This release was published on openPR.