BS: Hughes Fish Fight

Subject: BS: Hughes Fish Fight
From: ChrisJBrady
Date: 04 Apr 11 - 02:21 PM

Greenpeace emails:

We've had some amazing successes in our campaign to clean up the tinned tuna industry, with Princes, Tesco and Asda all ditching destructive fishing methods since the beginning of the year. They join Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and the Co-op in doing the right thing. Now we are down to only two companies - John West and Morrisons - which are dragging their heels and have not yet made the smart move.

Already, over 28,000 emails have gone to John West about the use of fishing methods which also kill sharks, rays, juvenile tuna and other marine species. They're under enormous pressure to catch up with the other retailers and suppliers so if you haven't already, email John West now. If you have, please ask five of your friends to send an email as well.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/fishfight

But we can't forget the other exception, Morrisons, which inexplicably is also unable to match its rival supermarkets and change the way its tinned tuna is caught. Morrisons is now isolated as the very worst of the major supermarkets for tinned tuna in the UK. Our team has yet to meet with Morrisons about this so it will be interesting to find out why the top brass feels unable to catch up with the rest.

And if you didn't get the chance to see Hugh's Fish Fight when it first aired, it's being shown again starting tonight at 10pm on More 4 UK). The series got people talking about how the fishing industry works and what it's doing to the oceans, with our tinned tuna campaign featured prominently.

The subject of tinned tuna even came up in parliament. During a debate, fisheries minister Richard Benyon made it clear that the government supports tinned tuna companies taking steps to eliminate bycatch.

So much has changed in the tinned tuna world since the series went out in January. Thanks to exposure on prime time TV and the combined efforts of Greenpeace and Fish Fight supporters, Tesco, Asda and Princes have smartened up their practices where tinned tuna's concerned.

So let's finish the job we started and move the last two companies, one by one. Email John West now.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/fishfight

Thank you,
Jamie Woolley
Greenpeace

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1. It is well known there is a problem in the oceans. In his new campaigning series, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is leaving the comfort of River Cottage to find out what is going on at the industrial end of our fisheries. And what he finds is that its not just bad... it's mad.
(Part 1 of 3)

2. Hugh's fish fight goes global as he starts to investigate the problems with tinned tuna, before crossing swords with his old adversary, Tesco. After finding out that sharks, turtles and rays get caught up in the purse seine nets which supply the majority of tuna to the UK supermarkets, Hugh heads to the Maldives in search of an alternative, and finds one of the most pristine, and well-protected marine environments on the planet; and a sustainable, ethical, source of tinned tuna, caught by traditional pole and line methods. Meanwhile, some friends from Greenpeace launch their own investigation into the source of Tesco's tuna. And what they find out in Ghana gives Hugh all the evidence he needs to call for a much anticipated meeting with his old friends at the supermarket.
(Part 2 of 3)

3. Hugh's fish fight takes him to Scotland, to meet with the largest farmed salmon producing company in the world, before he heads to Brussels to try to knock some sense into the bureaucrats about the scandal of discards. In order to add some urgency to his campaign, he launches a website http://www.fishfight.net, which went viral, and picked up 24,000 supporters in just 24 hours. Fishermen from all over the country descend on Westminster to add their voices to the protest, which ends with a rallying cry to all of us to try to help sort out the mess our fisheries are in. Hugh believes we all need to try and eat different types of fish, to relieve some of the pressure on cod, tuna and salmon, and we need to add OUR voices to the campaign to stop discards. Last in the series.

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Subject: RE: BS: Hughes Fish Fight
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 04 Apr 11 - 04:34 PM

Bird's Eye is joining in with it's battered mackerel. I had a home-made mackerel roll last Friday, then got another couple to stick in the freezer, as Bird's Eye say it's limited edition for just now.

Subject: RE: BS: Hughes Fish Fight
From: GUEST,John MacKenzie
Date: 04 Apr 11 - 04:53 PM

Please can the title be amended to Hugh's Fish Fight? That way it's more recognisable.

Subject: RE: BS: Hughes Fish Fight
From: gnu
Date: 04 Apr 11 - 07:31 PM

CJB... `...ditching destructive fishing methods...`

What were the destructive methods and how did they ditch themÉ

É = question mark on my keyboard right now.

Subject: RE: BS: Hughes Fish Fight
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 04 Apr 11 - 08:20 PM

They're repeating the programmes on More4 just now. I don't know if you'll be able to get them online in North America but the main complaint was discards.

Subject: RE: BS: Hughes Fish Fight
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 06 Apr 11 - 06:38 PM

I've just had a look in my freezer - it's Young's Chip Shop range, not Bird's Eye.

PS: I got the t-shirt.

Subject: RE: BS: Hughes Fish Fight
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 06 Apr 11 - 07:08 PM

The thing that has always stunned me is that a fisherman 'licensed' to catch one type of fish/crab/etc legally MUST discard others, wasting them - oh birds get some of them, thus destroying the fishery long term.

It's just the same as the Govt in the past allowing someone to live on a piece of land, insisting that the vegetation MUST be cleared to a certain amount in a certain time to keep the property, or be fined. Now people are outraged that the Govt wants to make criminals out of them for cutting down growth on their own freehold land.