It all started in Cornwall in the fishing village of Falmouth, where 'Clarence' the Cod made his first appearance at the Sea Shanty Festival and wowed the crowds on stage with the Fisherman’s Friends Band.
Our activists dressed as cod and mackerel have had a busy summer. They've been to Weymouth, Plymouth, Brighton, Eastbourne, Whitstable, Aldeburgh and many other places all over the English coast to tell festival-goers all about our Be a Fisherman's Friend campaign.Sometimes the weather was nice to them, sometimes they stood ankle-deep in mud. But that didn't limit their enthusiasm.
With the help of their fish mascots, our wonderful volunteers collected 15,000 signatures on 'fish cards'. These cards are being delivered to the UK MEPs to ask them to fix the current Common Fisheries Policy in a way that rewards responsible and sustainable fishermen. 15,000 fish cards is a fantastic result that could not have been achieved without the support of our volunteers.
'Maisy' the Mackerel quite enjoyed her tour on the Bournemouth coast where, besides swimming, she even got to sing and read poetry with the local groups. In the meantime 'Eric' the Cod was busy talking to the public in Brighton.
I could tell that their popularity was growing, when in Newlyn 'Clarence' the Cod and 'Millicent' the Mackerel were interviewed on radio. In Eastbourne and West Dorset, our groups of active volunteers quite enjoyed themselves, decorating the stalls with fishing nets and asking kids to colour the 'fish cards' to be delivered to their MEPs.
When
I saw many people, like chefs, fishermen, students and families wearing our
badges, showing off our temporary tattoos and flying our flags on their boats,
I knew this fishy phenomenon was taking off.
We launched the campaign in Hastings back in May together with local fishermen John and Ben Griffin, and Bud White. In September, we returned to Hastings, to the Seafood and Wine Festival, where our volunteers continued to spread the message to give a fairer catch to those fishermen who look after our oceans and use sustainable and responsible fishing methods.
I consider myself quite lucky as I had the chance of turning into Marlene the Mackerel for the last destination of our fishy tour. This time we decided to go to Aldeburgh for the Food and Drink festival where we asked the public to “Petish for fish” and with the great help of our activists and Roger Hipwell from the Orford and District Inshore Fishermen’s Association, we convinced more than 1,200 people to become Fishermen’s Friends in only 2 days!
Of course, none of this could have happened without the help of our volunteers who dedicated their time to this tour and who generated so much support all over the English coast.
The Festival season is now over but our campaign is still on and we need your help!
Become a Fisherman’s Friend today and sign our petition to Fisheries Minister, Richard Benyon now. You can also keep up to date with the campaign by visiting our Facebook page.
