1 Eat less fish
It might sound blindingly obvious, but it really is that simple. Really, we should all eat less protein in general. Easy-peasy. The World Health Organization recommends a daily intake of just 56g of protein. So, you don’t need to add a portion of fish to the egg, sausage and bacon you’ve already had!
2 Eat lower on the food chain
if you can’t kick your fish habit. Stay away from the “Big Five” like salmon, shark, tuna, swordfish and cod as they are massively overfished. Go for smaller fish instead, like anchovies and sardines or even better: squid, mussels, farmed scallops and why not seaweed?
3 Think twice about eating shrimps…
For every half kilo of shrimps you eat, about 5 kilos of other organisms are thrown back dead into the sea – this is the result of a lovely fishing method called trawling, which might as well be called “marine bulldozing”
4 Be environmentally-friendly
Be responsible in your tablet consumption and only use eco-friendly detergents in your home. You’ll be doing yourself and the oceans a favor! Pretty much everything you chuck down the drain goes into the ocean. Sorry to get all yucky, but this is serious stuff. We have become huge consumers of all kinds of drugs and as a result our urine is contaminating waters all over the world. Studies show that trace elements of all sorts of medications have rendered oceans, rivers and aquifers alike a huge, open-air pharmacy! And we drink that water! And eat the animals that live in it! So, no matter how skeptical you may be, we’re all implicated in the dirty water cycle. There is no getaway. Go green!
5 Look for the blue Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label on fish products
OK, the name may not be super user-friendly but these people have spent lots of time looking at the impact of fisheries and the management of stocks. Being a clued-up consumer is one of the best ways to make change happen.
6 Avoid shark products
shark fin soup, shark skin, shark teeth and… fish and chips! Yes, you’ve read it right: since the collapse of cod stocks, shark has become one of the most common fish meats found in fish and chips! Our ignorance is driving spiny dogfish, one of many shark species, to near extinction. It's actually marketed as "rock salmon"! Spread the word to your friends, family, neighbors and pets.
7 Carry a seafood pocket guide with you at all times
just tuck it into your purse or wallet and whip it out in restaurants and shops. Print out a copy for your friends and family too and explain why we need to watch which fish products we eat. (Download Seafood Pocket Guide)
8 Avoid plastic, especially plastic bags.
They are used for about 20 minutes on average but take 400 years to break down. The majority of plastic waste ends up photodegrading in the ocean, where hyper toxic micro-particles attach to it… In other words, pollutants cling for their lives to the tiny bits of plastic in the sea. The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", in the North Pacific Ocean, contains six times as much plastic as it does plankton, so the toxic plastic particles enter the food chain… So, we eat the big fish that eat the little fish that eat the plastic bits by accident! It’s pretty scary, so let’s stop using plastic bags!
9 Steer clear of bluefin tuna
not only is it super toxic, it’s also on the highway to extinction. Next time you crave those tasty tuna sashimi, imagine tucking into a slice of giant panda. It’s pretty much the same thing.
10 Participate in a local clean-up project
Spending your summer holidays by the sea? Why not get involved in a beach clean-up. Not going to the beach? Well, there are rivers, parks, and streams that need your help! And take your kids, they’re the best bet to get us out of trouble.