Starting a marine conservation group.

Iceburg1

Hey

So my ambition is to creat a marine conservation group to stop various issues such as illegal whaling,shark finning and also species that are on the brink of extinction. How would I go about this as I favor direct action then protesting.

Abit about myself I have lived by the sea my whole life and have worked (still do) on search and rescue operations in the North Sea and I'm ver passionate about anti whaling my main issue is close to home in the Faroe Islands with regard to the grind.

So my ambition is to get a vessel (smallish boat) have a volunteer crew who are passionate about the cause and do our best to make a difference. How would I go about this with regard to funding and getting a board of directors ect as I'm alone ATM.

Thank you for reading

Aquamania

Iceburg1 wrote: »

Hey

So my ambition is to creat a marine conservation group to stop various issues such as illegal whaling,shark finning and also species that are on the brink of extinction. How would I go about this as I favor direct action then protesting.

Abit about myself I have lived by the sea my whole life and have worked (still do) on search and rescue operations in the North Sea and I'm ver passionate about anti whaling my main issue is close to home in the Faroe Islands with regard to the grind.

So my ambition is to get a vessel (smallish boat) have a volunteer crew who are passionate about the cause and do our best to make a difference. How would I go about this with regard to funding and getting a board of directors ect as I'm alone ATM.

Thank you for reading

How much whaling currently takes place around the Faroe Islands?

Is it not regulated by Faroese authorities?

Perhaps you could contact them for advice?

paddyrg

Instead of going it alone, could you hook up with the long-established and well-resourced Greenpeace for instance? It might be more efficient overall with only one set of overheads and the amount of press and support they can generate. Maybe you could head-up/work with a team specific to the issues that concern you, offer your advice based on local knowledge etc.

Iceburg1

Well the Faroe islands have a population of around 45 000 residents and kill around 3000 pilot whales each year. (The exact number of these species of whale is not known) but its the sheer brutality of how they are killed if you YouTube the grind you'll see. Unfortunately I have no regard of Greenpeace and their tactics (too submissive) sea shepherd is more of what I'm talking about. While sea shepherd has mad a presense in the Faroe islands they cannot return on a regular basis due to funds which are spent on their Antarctic whale compain. So this is my idea I'm alone so would a place to start be finding people I could start a board with and go from there?

paddyrg

In that case, I'd simply start alone without a formal structure and let your passion and commitment attract other people, and formalise fundraising and boards of directors etc once there's a few of you.

Perhaps the Sea Shepherd people can advise about structures and any relevant laws, but frankly direct action is about taking a direct stand and generating press and community attention so go out and get arrested and make huge banners and take a dinghy/whatever you can find/beg/borrow. Getting started and sticking with it you'll attract support as you go.

Have you ever heard of a festival 'The Big Green Gathering'? There are a lot of direct action groups who share skills, campaigns, ideas and resources there - sounds like you might want to go and chat with other direct action protesters about how best to get support.

I seriously doubt there are any grants/'funding' you could use, but it's the kind of campaign people will back personally if they see real results and commitment. I'd skip you a tenner if I saw your stand and leaflets and tales of direct action. I'd slip you a nifty if we'd charted a while and I saw your real commitment and that you'd be doing it with out without my cash, and that the cash just helped cover extra costs/leaflets/etc

Iceburg1

Hey

Thanks for the reply I have a contact that is high up in sea shepherd and yes I think that may be the best bet to start alone doing direct action and getting media attention. do you think it would be a good idea to create a website and social media accounts to get an internet presence known? and thank you so much hopefully one day this will all come together and it will be a reasonably sized organisation.

Aquamania

Iceburg1 wrote: »

Well the Faroe islands have a population of around 45 000 residents and kill around 3000 pilot whales each year. (The exact number of these species of whale is not known) but its the sheer brutality of how they are killed if you YouTube the grind you'll see. Unfortunately I have no regard of Greenpeace and their tactics (too submissive) sea shepherd is more of what I'm talking about. While sea shepherd has mad a presense in the Faroe islands they cannot return on a regular basis due to funds which are spent on their Antarctic whale compain. So this is my idea I'm alone so would a place to start be finding people I could start a board with and go from there?

Youtube and other unrestricted internet sites are a scarry place to get your information from.

Afaik, the average annual catches over the past 3 decades was approximately:
1980–1999: 1,500
1990–1999: 1,000
2000-2010: 700

The food is caught to supplement the foodstock of the islanders, who cannot sustain themselves on land production alone. The kill typically takes less than 30 seconds ... but I appreciate some people think the killing any other annimal is brutal, but it happens all the time especially when required for food.

I'm sure if you contact the appropriate authority, they will provide you with the real facts.

Iceburg1

Okay well I've had assess to the actual files and they are reduced for public perception. 2 the pilot whale meat and blubber has been deemed unsafe for consumption due to the levels of mercury and other pollutants contributing to the killing off of brain cells. 3 they don't need them to survive they buy meat from England and various other counties Aswell as there own, they do it out of tradition.. No need for it today.

rochja

Hm. This is not as clear cut as you make it sound. As the whale hunts are legislated for and regulated actions have been taken to make it as humane as possible. If you were to take action you would be interfering with approved and regulated hunting and so your actions would clearly be unlawful. It seems to me that this is not an appropriate forum for advice establishing a charity whose sole aim is to break the law. You have certainly not convinced me that this is an aim worth supporting over many other causes. Particularly, you take a very unsympathetic view of the motives and needs of the islanders. Claiming they can import their food and do not need hunt ignores some very important factors, for instance the added carbon footprint of food so obtained, and the fact that in winter the islands can be cut off with no access to imported supplies - hence their traditional winter reliance on salted meat. Furthermore. Although you correctly identify that the islanders have been advised that the meat could poison them due to mercury concentrations you ignore the fact that nevertheless the communities share out the kill and use all of it - ie they eat it. Self reliance is something I totally believe in and I wish our country would demonstrate more of it. The point I am making is not that you are, or may be wrong, but that if you are to act on your convictions you must be absolutely sure of your case. I would also advise you to read Gandhi, Kenyatta and Mandela to make sure you fully understand the implications and consequences.

DomRavioli

OP...eat a snickers, you turn into a bloodhungry maniac when you're misinformed.

It is the tradition, the LONG STANDING TRADITION, of the Faroese to do this. It is not your place to try and stop that - in fact, I am sure I speak for a large number of Faroese when I say that if you don't like it, please feel free to leave the Faroe Islands.

It is their way of life, and if you don't like it, then noone is forcing you to stay; you have chosen to pick a battle for no apparent reason (this is done for two reasons, tradition and foodstuffs), with no good cause to do so.

It will only end in you most likely being asked to leave the country.

paddyrg

DomRavioli wrote: »

It is the tradition, the LONG STANDING TRADITION, of the Faroese to do this.
It will only end in you most likely being asked to leave the country.

The rights, wrongs, intricacies of this aside, tradition is the weakest possible argument for something to continue.

Fox hunting was traditional, bullfighting is traditional, but then taking that further Viking tradition was to gut a live animal and splash blood over the dining guests, or feudal landlords giving gifts of dung to Christmas wassailers. Just because something was done in the past doesn't mean it needs to be done forever.