Prove to me there will be no fish!

May 31 2009 by Ken Oxley, Sunday Sun

I RECEIVED an interesting and slightly worrying email this week from the campaigners behind World Oceans Day.

The aim of the organisation is to draw our attention to the dangers of over-fishing.

But the tone of the email reminded me of some of the more extravagant claims of environmental extremists.

You know the type . . . the ones who insist sea levels will rise and submerge us all unless we start sharing bath water and cycling everywhere.

One of the seemingly wilder claims, for example, is that there will be “no fish in the sea by 2050, unless we do something about it now”.

No fish? Absolutely none at all? The oceans, which account for more than 70 per cent of the earth’s surface, will be completely barren, apparently. Absolutely no scientific evidence is put forward – at least not in the email – to substantiate this claim.

However, campaigners are planning simultaneous screenings of a documentary film, called The End of the Line, around the country to coincide with World Oceans Day, which is June 8.

Presumably the science bit will be revealed then. I have absolutely no reason to suspect those behind World Scaremongering (sorry, I mean Oceans) Day are being deliberately alarmist to grab a few headlines.

I’m sure they’re the sort of people who carefully check their facts before contacting newspapers. And I’m very much looking forward to the screening of their documentary, which they tell me will take place at the Tyneside Cinema . . . in Newcastle-upon-Thames!