The power to impact the world's fisheries just got a little closer.
The world's fisheries are under more pressure than ever before because of factors such as the loss of essential fish habitats and plastics pollution.
More fished are consumed today than any other time before. From 1950 to 1990, there was a fivefold increase in the world annual fish catch. Fish demand remains high: Today, 70 percent of the planet's marine stocks are fully exploited or overexploited.
According to Save My Oceans, plastic constitutes approximately 90 percent of all trash floating on the ocean's surface, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile. In some parts of the ocean, there is more plastic per square inch than living life. Oftentimes, plastic pieces are mistaken for food and are eaten by marine wildlife. Although some plastics, such as single-use disposable plastics, are made to last for five minutes, it takes 500-1,000 years for them to degrade. Even if we stopped using plastics today, they will remain with us for many generations, threatening both human and ocean health. Despite these alarming facts, there are actions we can take to address the problem of plastics.
In celebration of World Fisheries Day 2012, Lauren Aycock, a 16-year-old environmentalist, and Greening Forward, a youth-driven and youth-imagined not-for-profit, are releasing two mobile applications for Android and iPhone devices that will empower users to protect oceans by choosing sustainable fish choices and kicking their plastics addiction.
Saving Seafood: With this mobile application, users will find a listing of dozens of fish varieties as well as the sustainability rankings for each fish, which will help consumers avoid eating fish that are caught unsustainably.
Download Instructions: Please direct your mobile device browser to www.savingseafood.info and add the webpage to your homescreen. This app is currently unavailable on any app stores.
Plastics Police: With this mobile application, users will find helpful and easy alternatives to kick their plastics addiction by reducing, reusing, and recycling their plastics waste.
Download Instructions: Please direct your mobile device browser to www.plasticspolice.org and add the webpage to your homescreen. This app is currently unavailable on any app stores.
Innovations such as Saving Seafood and Plastics Police really give more power to the consumer to make choices that will ultimately protect our world fisheries by keeping plastics out of our waterways and oceans and protecting endangered fish around the world. I invite others to join Lauren and myself in our campaign to protect our fisheries by downloading these apps and advocating for more sustainable consumer choices.