Blog: Oceans

According to some people, 2012 is supposed to be a year of transformative events. Well I don’t know about astronomical alignments, the Mayan calendar and all that, but for us oceans campaigners, 2012 is definitely significant – for 2012 is the year by which the world’s governments should have committed to a global network of marine protected areas (MPAs).

Organised crime seems to pay quite handsomely, especially if you manage to be part of a profession that seems to be beyond reproach. That can surely be the only conclusion to draw from the group of 17 fishermen who were fined a mere £720 thousand in court today for an overfishing scam that effectively stole £63 MILLION of fish from our seas.

This blog was originally posted on the New Statesman website on 9 Feb 2012.

Politicians have queued up to announce the dawn of the era of 'new capitalism'. Yet many commentators seemed less convinced; instead seeing merely the triumph of the old capitalism over any viable alternative. It seemed that having got drunk, fallen over and been sick in its hat, capitalism had woken up in 2012 feeling remarkably perky. It was the rest of us who had the hangover.

After the huge success of our UK tinned tuna campaign, described by the Independent as "one of the most successful environmental campaigns in years", it was great to hear a big European tuna brand - Bolton commit to completely clean up its act.