Monday, January 30, 2017
For over 40 years the oceans have been fished with ever increasing industrial ferocity and it has reached an emergency stage for ocean and human health; for the last 150 years land animals were hunted for sport or just slaughtered wholesale for hides, meat or living space; and the fight on both counts is getting more pointed as nature reserves in Africa struggle to protect endangered species and various plans are implemented to keep the fisheries viable.
Danny Quintana, founder of the Global High Seas Marine Preserve and author of Space & Ocean Exploration: The Alternative to the Military-Industrial Complex, is calling for an Earth Day Boycott, April 22, 2016, of all products from nations that continue down the path of destruction of ocean and land wildlife. Below is his article on this effort as he details the nations in questions and their policy towards wildlife.
We must send a message. The governments of the world and the giant fishing companies are emptying out the oceans and killing the wildlife on land. They just don’t care. If they did, these governments would fund protection of wildlife both on land and in the oceans.
Hit them where it hurts—hit their wallets and they will listen. On Saturday, April 22nd, 2017—do not buy anything. If the governments and businesses of the world are going to kill the wildlife on land and in the oceans- there will be an economic price. You the consumer are more powerful then these people who do not care about the natural world but only about money and power. Their lust for money is the root of all evil. Take their money away and they are powerless. Join us for a Global Boycott on Earth Day to Save the Wildlife. We are stewards of the Earth- we will win this battle.
Half of the wildlife in the oceans has been slaughtered and 90 percent of the predator fish have been killed off. The Asian nations are killing over 100 million sharks annually for shark fin soup. Dolphins and whales continued to hunted, rhinos, elephants, walrus, tigers, no animal is safe. Pollution on land and sea as well as a decrease in land area is crushing the wild. Our present course is a path to disaster.
We have two choices: we can continue our present path to the total destruction of the wildlife on land and in the oceans or we can stop the slaughter. Our best choice is to stop the slaughter. How can we go up against the governments of the world who just don’t care about the wildlife? We can stop them with our wallets.
The global fishing industry is a mere $80 Billion a year. It is a tiny. WalMart has gross revenue of over $440 billion annually. Home Depot has annual gross revenues of $93 Billion. The value of the ivory trade is approximately $1 billion annually. The price of the animals and plants being exterminated cannot be measured in dollars. A giant Redwood tree that is thousands of years old is priceless. We cannot place a dollar value on a wild elephant, a blue whale, a shark, Blue Fin Tuna, walrus and the various other species and various plants being destroyed globally for money. But we can take away the money of the people in charge and make them pay for their environmental crimes to our great Earth Mother.
One thing governments and industry clearly understand, if you hit them in their wallets, they remember it. Protests do NOTHING but get young people tear gassed and thrown in jail. Writing letters to your congressman and senators is effective as peeing into the wind. You will feel relieved but you will not make a change in policy.
What will work is a EARTH DAY GLOBAL BOYCOTT TO SAVE THE WILDLIFE. The villains in this historic environmental battle are the following nations and economic blocks:
CHINA: Now that the Chinese have the third largest economy on the planet, their public have the mistaken idea that cutting a shark’s fins off for shark fin soup is a sign of prestige, over 100,000,000 sharks are being needlessly slaughtered. A true sign of prestige is having the intelligence to work to save the life on this tiny planet. This is the same country that is killing elephants for ivory, tigers for their testicles, rhinos for their horns and is emitting massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. From the folks who bring you Christmas, lets give them a present- an Earth Day Boycott of Chinese goods and services. Boycott China save the wildlife.
On Saturday, April 22nd, Earth Day—do not buy and products or services from the Chinese. With an $19 Trillion GDP, this one-day boycott will cost the Chinese over $52 Billion. With these kind of losses, their government will change policy and stop killing the wildlife.
JAPAN: This country has one of the worst environmental records on the planet. Having destroyed the wildlife on their island, this country eats more seafood per capita than any other nation on Earth. They kill whales and lie about it being “research”. They are hunting Blue Fin Tuna to extinction. Their greed also makes them a major player in the shark fin trade. Their economy is the 4th largest on the planet. At $4.4 Trillion GDP annually, a one-day boycott of the world’s killer of the oceans will cost Japan approximately $10 Billion. This will make the Japanese government listen. Their government and business leaders love money more than life itself. Hit them where it hurts- boycott all Japanese goods and services on Saturday, April 22nd, Earth Day and guaranteed, the shark fin trade and whaling will end. Boycott Japan on Earth Day and save the wildlife.
EUROPEAN UNION: From the people who brought the world colonialism, two world wars and French perfume, these boys and girls are killing the oceans. Their giant trawlers fish off the coasts of poor countries and empty out fisheries. They have to be stopped. The EU is the 2nd largest economy on the planet. At $20 Trillion GDP annually, a one-day boycott will cost the Europeans over $52 Billion and guaranteed, their governments will get the message- STOP KILLING THE OCEANS. Make them pay for their environmental crimes against our great Earth Mother. On Earth Day 2017 Boycott the EU and save the wildlife.
NAFTA: Canada, the United States and Mexico are the largest economic block on the planet.
CANADA: The government of Canada knows that farm raised salmon stocks contain diseases and contaminate wild stocks. Also, in order to raise a predator fish like salmon, you have to use small catch from half way across the world. Two fisheries are thus damaged and destroyed. When you look back at the collapse of the cod fisheries in the Atlantic, you realize that the Canadian government acted too late to stop the slaughter. Don’t buy farm raised salmon. It is an environmental disaster that destroys the wild stocks and small fisheries in other parts of the world.
UNITED STATES: The U.S. imports seafood from all over the world. Seafood in this rich country is not a necessity. It is a food choice and this choice is killing the oceans. Fish are relabeled as the species normally used for sushi become rare. Given the voracious appetite of Americans, no ocean is safe. Sword fish, marlin, cod, halibut, wild salmon, Patagonian Tooth Fish (relabeled as “Sea Bass), numerous species are hunted so people at a Las Vegas buffet can eat 2nds, 3rds, 4ths and waste what is not consumed.
MEXICO: Each year fisherman overfish and fish illegally. Consequently the fisheries are in decline. Mexico will not enforce its own laws and in time the once rich waters will be exhausted. A boycott will force the Mexican government to pay attention and enforce their laws.
With an annual GDP of $22 Trillion, a one-day boycott of the world’s largest economy will cost these countries over $53 Billion. With these kinds of losses, the NAFTA governments and the fishing and restaurant industry will listen. Make them pay—Boycott Canada, the United States and Mexico on Earth Day to save the wildlife.
INDONESIA: You would think that a country that claims to be religious, would be stewards of the Earth. They are not. Indonesia is the largest exporter of shark fins. Pollution and habitat destruction are huge problems. Send their government a message—on Earth Day Boycott Indonesia.
THAILAND: The country that invented vacations in paradise also enslaves people for their fishing fleets. Don’t buy seafood exported by Thailand and their government will stop the slaves at sea trade. Boycott Thailand on Earth Day and make them pay for their environmental crimes.
COSTA RICA: This beautiful country depends on eco-tourism for economic survival. On land the government protects its environment. But at sea, illegal shark finning contributes to a global disaster. The lucrative shark fin trade is too big a temptation for poor Costa Rican fisherman. So they kill sharks and sell them to the Asian market. On Earth Day Boycott Costa Rica and make them pay for killing sharks.
PERU: El Nino and overfishing are destroying anchovies, one of the world’s largest fisheries. The small species is used to feed pigs in China and the United States as well as for farm raised salmon in Chile and Canada. Pollution is also a huge problem. Dead zones from industrial pollution are making the costal areas fish free. Only two percent of Peru’s trash is recycled. The rest is burned or dumped into the oceans. Send their government and fishing industries a message. Clean it up and quit selling anchovies to feed other animals. On Earth Day- Boycott Peru and make them pay for their environmental crimes.
CHILE: Has devastated their fisheries. The jack mackerel once thought too plentiful to destroy is on the edge of collapse. Overfishing is the cause. Send this government a message- Boycott Chile on Earth Day.
BRAZIL: The once lucrative fisheries of Brazil are on the edge of collapse. The destruction of the mangroves and costal ecosystems as well as overfishing have left Brazil’s fisheries in a crisis. Send the Brazilian government a message—Boycott Brazil on Earth Day.
RUSSIA: A government created by the mafia has no respect for human life, much less animal life. Corruption is a way of life in Russia. Consequently, without any respect for the rule of law, Russian trawlers fish off the coasts of poor countries, bribe their leaders and decimate the fisheries. Boycott Russia on Earth Day.
The slaughter must stop. By 2050 the land and oceans will be empty of wild life but full of garbage and concrete edifices that are becoming the new deities. It does not have to end this way. We humans saved the buffalo from collapse. We can save the wildlife from destruction by bringing attention to this issue. This is one environmental battle we can clearly win. The entire global fishing industry is small- approximately $80 billion annually according the United Nations Farm and Agricultural Organization. A global boycott will cost these countries $180 Billion in ONE DAY- Earth Day. The ivory trade will end when the Asian nations suffer monetarily.
Danny Quintana
President & Founder
Global High Seas Marine Preserve
A non-profit organization committed to saving the wildlife in the oceans.
Web Site: www.GHSMP.org
Email: danny@ghsmp.org