On Monday evening, after a three hour hippy bus adventure from Amsterdam, myself and seven other members of the crew from the Arctic Sunrise arrived at the Goethe Institute in Brussels to attend the premiere of ‘Sandgrains’; a documentary about overfishing in West Africa, how the European Union is largely responsible for the catastrophic depletion of fish stocks and the subsequent effects it has on Cape Verde and the larger West African community.
We attended as part of the documentary was filmed on board the Arctic Sunrise earlier this year and we all wanted to go and show support to the lovely guys, Gabriel, Jordie and José who worked so hard on such an amazing project.
The film was brilliant, well made, edited, poignant and moving, and did a fantastic job of highlighting such a massive problem, a problem that we have the power to change for the better RIGHT NOW by writing to your MEP and asking them to support a fairer Common Fisheries Policy.
It was a real honour to be there as representatives of the Arctic Sunrise, supporting the guys, who have since become our friends and to see all their hard work pay off. The campaign on board the Arctic Sunrise was a great success, and resulted in the new Senegalese Government cancelling all 29 foreign fishing licenses for their waters for next year. It’s a step in the right direction and reports from Greenpeace Africa are already indicating that the fish stocks are recovering.
It was a great night and so lovely that Greenpeace has the power to bring so many amazing people together, not just for a few weeks and then never see them again, but who become great friends because of a common aim and a belief that we are doing the right thing.
If you want to get involved with Greenpeace, you can find out about your local group and where they meet on the ‘Get Active’ section of the website.
We are also always looking for volunteers on the ships, if you think you have what it takes, you can apply here, and who knows, you could soon be one of the lucky few who get to attend a premiere of a documentary filmed on your trips on the Greenpeace ships!
Congratulations Gabriel, Jordie and José on your amazing film. Come back to the Sunrise soon!
Comments