Cold, wet, scary - and worth it

The North Sea looks bloody cold, so well done and hope the survival suit was warm and toasty.

What did the fishing ship do? and how about the crew on board?

I haven't yet seen the You Tube footage but I'll go look it up.

and again to everyone out on the North Sea standing up for something they believe in, good luck with the next action and a job well done.

As a Shetlander with friends and relatives on fishing boats and the RNLI lifeboats (which would be called into action should your stunt have gone wrong) I am dismayed to see such disregard to the safety of everyone involved

Fishing is, by its nature, a dangerous job, without 'well meaning' people jumping overboard into the path of a boat which is in mid trawl

The strain involved in towing a trawl net is huge, and any sudden changes in course are likely to have unpredictable and/or disasterous consequences

In light of the recent Bourbon Dolphin tragedy, which was caused by a tow which went wrong, I think your actions are grossly insensitive

The problem of overfishing is well known and in the hands of the legislative. Believe me when I say the people of Shetland are the first to support sustainable fisheries, but I think that puplic opinion in Shetland is not behind you when you employ such foolhardy methods which endanger lives

I hope you do not put the lives of fishermen, emergency service crew and your own at risk again

One of our core principles is that our campaigning is non-violent, which means we don't put anyone, other people or our own, in jeopardy. The team onboard the Arctic Sunrise is extremely experienced in carrying out marine actions and if they'd thought there was any chance that things could go wrong, they wouldn't have gone ahead.

But leaving the future of the fishing industry (and the fish it depends on) up to legislators is clearly not working, which is why marine life across the globe is in the sorry state we see it now. As our campaigner Willie has pointed out, advice to massively reduce cod fishing quotas has been repeatedly ignored. Sadly, merely supporting sustainable fishing isn't enough if your friends and relatives aren't actually doing something about it. If you'd like to cite some concrete examples of how cod fishermen are working to safeguard stocks, please feel free to respond.

That's why we engage in these forms of direct action, so we can prevent bad environmental practices happening, even if only for a short time. In this case, leaving it up to politicians and the vested interests of the fishing industry lobbyists isn't an option.

web editor
gpuk

Having read the comments of jamie, above, re experienced crew, etc.. I feel that I should now do as is suggested on another GP page, and, I [quote]:
Write to David Miliband and tell him our oceans need marine reserves. [/end quote]

Yes our oceans do need marine reserves...
Special, very small areas, where Greenpeace can be taken to and scuttled before they put more lives at risk.
So I will write to Mr Milliband and suggest that he uses any influence he has to instigate an investigation into the dangerous practices, and cavalier attitude towards maritime safety, of Greenpeace.

The more interesting questions on the marine environment and the fishing industry are being discussed on this thread - but here I’ll respond to the people who are more concerned about our tactics and claim that our actions in the North Sea are dangerous.

We have about thirty offices around the world, all doing direct actions on a regular basis, and after every one representatives or sympathisers with the target industry or organisation claim that we are recklessly putting people’s lives at risk. So, if so many people are telling us this, why aren’t Greenpeace listening?

Well, we always respond that we plan these things very carefully in accordance with our core principle of non-violence so that no-one, neither our activists nor the target nor any third parties, are put at risk. We exist to change opinions, and we’re fully aware that deaths or serious injuries wouldn’t help our cause.

So who do you believe? Well, fortunately it doesn’t have to come down to trust – using the internet, anyone can pretty easily find out how often activists and others are killed or seriously injured on Greenpeace actions. Have a look for yourself, then see if you can find any job, occupation or hobby which is safer, statistically, than taking part in a Greenpeace action.

If you still maintain that we are irresponsibly reckless, and the lack of accidents is merely down to a thirty year lucky streak, well, perhaps we’ve got someone watching over us.

Graham
gpuk

I am utterly disgusted with your harrasment of the trawlers in the northern north sea last week. You obviously are extremely misguided or are so far up yourselves that you can't see or won't see the facts in front of you. As for catching the last Cod it won't happen in your lifetime or mine either especially as mine might be longer than yours if you continue to do silly stunts like you have been !
If you want to save Cod, go harass the industrial fishermen who take the feed away to feed a few pigs and farmed fish, go cull a few thousand sick and diseased grey seals or is that too much of a taboo subject and wouldn't get you any brownie points with the bunny hugging public.
Donate to Greenpeace ? You must be joking