Meeting with Sarah King from Greenpeace

Arriving slightly late to our meeting, we met with Ms. Sarah King at the Prado Cafe. Never having met before, Ms. King waved at us as we entered the little cafe. She has a friendly smile and we were quite surprised to find someone, an expert, that's so approachable and helpful.
Emily and I had came up with a list of questions that we derived from our understanding of the issue, however the interview took flight from the sheet of paper as we discover the other facets of this issue from Ms. King; that there's much more to learn about the mentality of consumers behind the fining and unsustainable fishing. Key points distilled from interview as follows:

Present situtation with our oceanic consumptions:
-Few supermarkets in Canada are working towards a sustainable seafood policy and they all sell Redlist species. Some have done nothing to date to address this issue.
-The ocean is "pretty fucked up at the moment" and if no immediate action is taken then unprecendented consequences will be enevitable.
-predatory fish such as cod and tuna have dropped by 90% over the last ~50 years.
-People are often shocked and find it hard to believe that the ocean is under heavy stress right n ow because the demand still presses and the supply works the ocean even harder to provide.
-Would we have to wait till the day where there are no more fishes on shelf to take action?
-Sharks are vital to the balance and health of the whole ocean eco system, yet they are precieved and hunted as damned.


How did the general pubic react to Greenpeace oceanic campaigns and surveys:
-Most are very responsive and interested, however there seem to be a lack of knowledge and a lack of action as our daily routine/system suggests other wise.
-"ignorance is bliss", turning the blind eye.

How should a rsponsible consumer approach this issue:
-cut back on seafood consumption
-avoid consuming species from the red-list
-ask questions such as the origin from which the fish is caught (not where it's processed) at and whether or not it is caught by sustainable techniques such as selective fishing and not long-line fishing. (Retailers will not budge unless pressured by lack of sales and/or negative image)
-Eating lower on the food chain.

In relation to our design topic:
-make tagents to the whole fishing industry and the condition of the oceans. For ex: Sharks are often caught as "by-catch" (the amount in which a different species could be caught at) and is calculated by a policy of "body vs fin ratio" which some fisherman take advantage of as the policy is hard to enforce.
-how to change people's perception and value? Ex: Consumption of Shark fin is viewed as a symbol of wealth and power in Chinese context. How can we change this?
-our initial target audience--children, could be too passive of an audience for such an urgent topic.
-In relation to the urgency--our design outcome has to be a visible and direct demand for action.
-Educating people then empowering them in this matter, even just acknowleding their individual buying-power, is probably a potent element in our design.
-Making the topic relatable via customization is also a way to bring on urgent action.



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A Big Thanks to Sarah King from Emily and LuLu!