Oceans’ Future Lies With Boulder-based Advocates

May 25, 2010 - PRLog -- Boulder-based Last Ocean kicks off its North American campaign to combat the devastating effects of overfishing and pollution with a fundraiser at The Kitchen on Pearl Street, Boulder, Sunday evening, May 30. A percentage of sales from the event go directly to the Last Ocean and its commitment to preserving our oceans.
Working with the Ocean Foundation and the Antarctica Southern Ocean Coalition to protect our seas from impending disaster, The Last Ocean (TLO) plans to bring conservation to the public in a powerful, emotive context. Using film, photography and the latest interactive and social media, it presents a vital message to society: unless we stop overfishing, stocks of all species currently fished for food are predicted to collapse by 2048.
Landlocked Colorado seems an unlikely place to find a group of passionate ocean conservationists, but TLO knows the Boulder/Denver area to be a knowledgeable and ardent market for garnering public support. The Kitchen event will be followed by concerts at the Fox and Boulder theaters in August. The region will also host the first leg of its North American tour in early 2011.
The multimedia tour will build awareness of marine issues and generate an international community of ocean advocates. The cornerstone of TLO’s strategy is the creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that restrict industrial fishing and allow fish stocks to replenish. Studies indicate that MPAs actually raise the net economic value of fisheries, but approximately only one percent of the oceans and seas enjoy MPA status.
Since the oceans are being cleared at twice the rate of forests, food insecurity looms as a reality for the one in five people on the planet depending on fish as the primary source of protein.
Founded by renowned wildlife photographer and Boulder resident, John Weller, phase one of the TLO campaign centers on the Ross Sea, Antarctica, recognized as perhaps the last pristine marine ecosystem on the planet. In recent years fisheries have targeted this region for the Antarctic toothfish, sold as Chilean sea bass. Now over-exploitation of this keystone species threatens to destroy perhaps the last marine ecosystem untainted by human activity, and an area vital for scientific study if we are to reverse current and unsustainable trends.
In addition to Weller, the team includes Dr. David Ainley, a leading voice in marine research with over 30 years experience studying the ecology of the Ross Sea, and Aeaea, a Boulder-based strategic management firm hired to implement TLO’s project.
Sunday evening’s event at The Kitchen marks the launch of TLOs international campaign. It invites the community to participate and become ambassadors for the ocean and a sustainable future.

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The Last Ocean is an environmental ocean conservation company in Colorado. It campaigns to protect our seas from overfishing and pollution by establishing Marine Protected Areas that allow fishstocks to replenish, thus preserving food security globally.