The Naturale Yogi

I am in love with the ocean, if there was one thing I’d like to be doing a lot of that would be diving. The few times I went diving in various places in the Philippines I’ve seen wildlife up close and have always thought about how exactly they affect humans. I’ve also seen random food wrappers floating along side me during those dives which infuriated me because I know that food wrappers can be safely tucked away in their bags and brought to recycling centers when back on land. For the past few years I’ve consciously asked for every restaurant to not give me straws when I order drinks (before COVID made it too risky to dine out) and I’ve switched from plastic tooth brushes to bamboo ones, and from plastic dental floss to corn silk floss. I’ve switched from using feminine napkins to reusable cloth ones and menstrual cups. I’ve kept all my plastic wrappers and squeezed them into bottles to make eco bricks all in an effort to reduce, reduce, and reduce my plastic consumption that was harming my most favorite playground the ocean. Or so I thought.

In Netflix’s new documentary, Seaspiracy, the idea that drastically reducing our plastic consumption was not the clear cut answer I thought it was! It turns out that only 0.03% of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch was from plastic straws, fishing gear makes up 46%. It turns out that industrial fishing has a much greater impact on the health of our oceans than all the plastic straws put together. When we see the news of whales and other marine mammals washing up on shores with their guts filled with plastic, we have to understand that the biggest type of plastic inside would be from industrial fishing gear. So it turns out that industrial fishing boats, yes those massive, ugly, man-made death machines called trawlers are the reason why our oceans are dying. Trawlers throw down huge nets that can catch a volume the size of huge cathedrals and basically scrape everything from the sea bed up to the surface and destroy coral reefs and catch everything and anything in between.  

Let me put this into perspective. The fish you have on your dinner plate was caught by these trawlers that destroy the sea bed where the fish start their lives. They also catch other types of sea animals including but not limited to dolphins, whales, sharks, tortoises in their nets. They stay on the boats to get sorted and are dead when thrown back into the ocean. When they don’t need the nets they just throw them over board where bigger whales and other mammals get them into their system and that’s not even the worst part of this industry. Aside from killing animals and destroying our oceans, this industry also kills human beings. From murdering people tasked to observe if fishing boats are adhering to sustainable practices to enslaving Thai people to fish on illegal boats. 1 in 3 of all the fish we see in the market has been caught illegally and governments are aware of this and supporting this as well.

I can’t write everything about this documentary because there is a lot to unpack. If you are interested in these stories then watching Seaspiracy, Mission Blue, A Plastic Ocean, and Chasing Coral are all very informative documentaries that explore how humanity has essentially killed itself because of greed.

The bottom line for me is that we as a human race have fought against nature for so long. Pandemics are one of the ways nature fights back. The truth is that we are consuming more than we need to. How is it that we spend so little on fish that requires so much energy to get onto our plates? Industrial fishing, factory cattle farming, and modern agriculture farming, they all try to bypass what is natural. Those other two industries would have a blog all on their own as they are two different variants of the same monster. Consider this, do we really need to eat fish at least in the quantities that we are currently eating? As a vegetarian, I’ve been fine these past few years since I decided to eliminate these groups because I didn’t need them to survive. It all boils down to being mindful. Mindful of where our sustenance comes from, mindful of how we as a single individual affects the greater world around us. We have to stop thinking in terms of one but in terms of all. If you my dear reader stopped to consider that maybe breakfast would be a peanut butter and banana plant based protein smoothie that’s meat, fish, and dairy free and dinner would be a big ass salad of greens, nuts, and fruits, and lunch would be a proper portion of truly ethically sourced meat and a side of whatever vegetable you love. Then that’s 2 meals less of harmful and deadly meat you have eliminated from your life and your waistline.