European Maritime Day

 

The European Maritime Days ended with a huge Hawaiian Ho'okupu held at San Lorenzo beach in Gijon, Thursday May 20th 2010. This ceremony, well known among surfers, is an Hawaiian ritual. Waters from all seas are poured into a bowl. Chapter heads from Greece, Portugal, Sweden, France, Netherlands and Germany shared water from their beach. Diego Lopez Garrido, the Spanish secretary for European affairs, came to the sunny ceremony, during which a macro-waste necklace was given to each member. A new way for SFE to put forward its petition "not on our beaches", against macro-waste. "TRASH KILLS": for the first time, Surfrider's new banner went into the ocean, blown by the strong Asturias wind and held by a dozen surfers.


 

Surfrider Foundation Europe press conference

The SFE press conference will be held on the 20 May in the 'Panainfo' room at the headquarters of the 'Laboral ciudad de la cultura', from 14H30 to 16H15.

This is an opportunity for the important new representative group propelled by SFE to present and describe its demands. This group represents at a European level, ocean users and watersports practicers, watersport federations as well as connected economic activities : the surf, skate and board industry and related dedicated media.

This will also be an opportunity for SFE to present the Plea for the Sea, the document that is the base of this new representative group, containing common interests and demands for the defence of the interests of its users (a healthy environment, free acess guaranteed to nautical zones...).

Surfrider calls out to major European institutions and reaffirms at a European level its strong intention to defend the natural heritage of our environment and the values of ocean users. During the press conference, videos and real life testimonies from Surfrider's local branches will concretely show the battles fought this year along European coasts.

Why the « Plea for the Sea, the Oceans and their Users » ?

The « Plea for the Sea, the Oceans and their Users » embodies all of the findings of SFE’s work on the ground for the past 20 years regarding the state of our coasts, and poses urgent issues in need of treatment.

The Plea is the central link between all ocean users in Europe, including their common values and interests. It calls for an exhaustive approach on problems regarding our coasts: pollution of bathing waters and leisure activity areas, waste, protection of waves, artificialisation of coasts, as well as the fight against climate change and the impact of maritime transport.

The Plea will be presented to Madame Damanaki, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, as well as to the Spanish presidency of the European Union.

Why the petition « Not on Our Beaches » ?

The waste that litters our beaches and oceans, composed of more than 80% plastic, is for the moment considered to be merely a « visual nuisance » as opposed to « pollution ».

In the face of absurd figures such as : 500 million plastic bags are used each year on the planet, 123,000 tonnes of waste is flushed into the ocean every day, one million birds and more than 100,000 marine mammals are killed by macro-waste every year, SFE have launched a petition called « Not on Our Beaches ».

This petition aims to push decision-makers in Brussels to vote for the recognition of the macro-waste that is found on our beaches, along coastlines and in the sea, as a real « pollution ».

In addition to the « Plea for the Sea, the Ocean and their Users » this petition will be presented to Madame Damanaki, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, as well as to the Spanish Presidency of the European Union.

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