Ocean guardians stand against trawling

When I read an article in ScienceDaily highlighting that bottom trawling's impacts on the ocean are clearly visible from space, I decided to make this destructive fishing practice, and its solutions, the focus of my next underwater imagery campaign.

After being awarded a "Create Some Good" grant from Redbubble, myself and team traveled on location to the Bahamas to shoot conceptual underwater scenes about the devastating effects of bottom trawling.

The goal of the campaign is to convey that:

The creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) helps safeguard the ocean from trawl nets that bulldoze the seafloor.

I'm releasing this series today, in honor of Valentine's Day, asking you to join me and 'Protect What's Precious.'

Your donation to Mission Blue, a non-profit dedicated to igniting public support for a network of global MPAs, will help safeguard the ocean.

Join me and become an ocean guardian: Make a pledge today.

RESOURCE GUIDE

• 6 Management Option for Bottom Trawling (The National Academies Press) 
• Collaboration of NGO and Industry to Improve the Impacts of Bottom Trawling (University of British Columbia) 
• Industrial fisheries that rely on bottom trawling wasted 437 million tonnes of fish over the last 65 years (ScienceDaily)
• Ocean fishing: Bottom trawling causes deep-sea biological desertification (ScienceDaily)

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CREDITS

Grant partner: Redbubble; #createsomegood award
Art direction & model: Christine Ren, The Underwater Woman
Photography: Brett Stanley
Shoot Coordinator: Bahama Island Excursions
BTS videographer & editor: Kristy Jessica of EmotePro
Lead safety divers: Shaun Osborne & Karen Richford