"The ocean is our office, our playground, our place of worship..."
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, can the World Surf League find a way to somehow mess it all up? The answer is, definitively, yes and professional surfing’s governing body has stumbled on its fifth major embarrassment since the calendar flipped to 2021, one month and two weeks ago.
The latest eye-popping bit of uh-oh is the just announced its 30×30 initiative in which the WSL directs its fans to sign a petition in support of AB 3030 which, in turn, encourages world leaders to “fully protect” 30 percent of the ocean by the year 2030, or 9 years, as detailed in the bill.
Per the press release:
The World Surf League’s (WSL) fans, staff and Championship Tour surfers know as well as anyone how important the ocean is to our global surfing community. The ocean is our office, our playground, our place of worship, and whether you live on the coast, or thousands of miles inland, its health is vital to the health and well-being of everyone. To show our support for our favorite place and to ensure a healthy ocean for us and for generations of surfers to come, WSL and partners recently announced the We Are One Ocean campaign, encouraging world leaders to protect 30 percent of our global ocean by the year 2030, or 30×30. For more, visit: www.weareoneocean.org.
Well, “fully protecting” 30 percent of the global ocean certainly would add many more restrictions on fishing, especially small local fishing, and this fact has not gone unnoticed by those who make their living and/or have much fun casting line in the water.
Amongst our surf ranks, Jason “Rat Boy” Collins to to Instagram declaring, “Don’t sign this bullshit! Such a crock of shit! WSL do a bit of research before you try and push this on folks. Support sustainable local fishermen not global garbage.”
Sportfishing operator Duane Diego wrote, “Why aren’t any of the competitive athletes on the tour that enjoy fishing chiming in on the AB3030 push from WSL?”
Tyler Pahl, a San Diego fisherman added, “Shame on you, WSL. If you like your fish caught by locals and not big corporations DON’T SIGN!”
Half-baked initiatives that quickly fail and pointless and/or destructive virtue signaling are hallmarks of the CEO Erik Logan era at the League but is infuriating local fishermen around the world his greatest blunder? Well, let’s see if we, together, can’t get him and his WSL to quietly disappear support for 30×30 and/or release a statement loudly apologizing to fishermen worldwide.
As always, BeachGrit stands with The People™.
Calls are in to those People™ and more as the story develops.
This article confuses the WSL’s pledge with a California specific proposal (AB3030). WSL’s pledge is not associated with that. WSL’s We Are One Ocean is just a campaign for signatures to propose a conversation at the U.N conference next fall
What do Ross and Mick have to say?
That’s the final straw, no more impulse buys of WSL jerseys for me. Too bad, those things are soooooo rad
The coastal waters of California, both federal and state are already a patchwork of reserves and sanctuaries. At the beginning of the century the greenies came up with the Marine Life Protection Act. they asked for the fishing community for input into which reef systems were most vaulable to them and promptly grabbed them all, turning them into Maine Protected Areas and Special Marine Conservation Areas out to 3 miles. Fishing is banned in MPAs and almost all take is illegal in SMCAs.
Everything from 180ft depth to 600ft depth is also off limits for groundfish.
the whole process for establishing the MLPA was mired in conflict of interest.
Along with this came a fresh onslaught of attacks from radical greenies like the Center for Biological Diversity. They successfully shut down 70% of the crab fishery this year under the auspices of saving whales. They argued this point while driving to court in imported cars, burning imported fuel, using imported computers, wearing imported clothes brought in large vessels to our shores. Container vessels and Tankers kill hundreds of whales a year off of the California coast. Crabbers accidentally kill one every few years. Fuck the CBD. Mom and pop fishing operations are bleeding out before our eyes. Death by a thousand cuts.
I recently had to take my crew members to the Dept HHS to sign up for food assistance. Young men who gladly toil for 18hrs a day on a pitching deck to bring food to the nation. There is something fundamentally wrong with food producers needing food stamps. Fuck the WSL, fuck Cali, fuck the Feds and fuck the greenies, especially Julie Packard and her fish prison.
That’s gotta be the hardest job I can think of, maybe roofing in the Sac Valley as well. Wears you out working on an incline all day, boats must be the same. I think the “greenies” are trying to do what they think is right but there is a disconnect between them and all the workers that get food on their table. My parents are like that. Kind of a disconnect with the struggles that people go through.
Agreed. I worked on a fishing boat in Florida for over 10 years in high-school and throughout college. The work is brutal, pays low and takes a toll on your body but at least you’re out on the ocean instead of an office. This is just another attempt to stick it to the working man.
Abalone operators here in Victoria Australia have THE BEST managed fishing stocks in the world , small towns that rely on the work generated.from divers to deckys to factory workers who get the bounty to Japan and Hong Kong. Aqua culture is NOT the answer ,nor are marine parks that are pure political tools to win votes .
Fuck WSL, you’ve blown it
The fuck do they care, they surf in pools.
Okey fuckin’ dokey
New Zealand (the most lame and foolishly lead of the world’s Govts) has spent the last 50 years making fishery reserves and has now still got bugger all (less than 1%) of the coast covered.
The type of fool who would even suggest that 30% of the worlds ocean can be looked after in the next 9 years is living in fantasyland.
ELo is that fool…
FLM
This will take away our rights to make sex with the fish we catch! No thank you.
WSL = We Sell Lies
Humanity is the real problem.
Do I have to give up my grenades , as this is the most sustainable way of fishing!
Who do you think you are, Jacque Cousteau?https://youtu.be/FHrlXY9Gd6c
The poor old Wozzle
Don’t even have the skills to
Do Greenwashing right
Oh man so conflicted. Ace says sign 30/30 and Ratboy says don’t. What do I do what do I do????
WsL Virtue Signalling Antenna operating at full capacity!
AB 3030. Enjoy the read. You should read before commenting so you know what you’re talking about. Right Charles?
https://leginfo.legislature…
I read! And just interviewed a 4th generation fisherman from San Diego! Up imminently!
Just read the whole thing and still have no idea what changes are proposed. The slogan protect thirty percent of the oceans and land makes no sense. If you pass a bill why wouldn’t it be for the entire state not thirty percent of it?
Surely the WSL will send out a presser telling us to get vaccinated next.
The WSL directs its fans to sign a petition in support of E-Lo 3022 which, in turn, encourages world leaders to “fully protect” 30 percent of E-Lo by the year 2022.
The World Surf League’s (WSL) fans, staff and Championship Tour surfers know as well as anyone how important E-Lo is to our global surfing community. E-Lo is our office, our playground, our place of worship, and whether you live on the coast, or thousands of miles inland, his health is vital to the health and well-being of everyone.
He is like a sacred meal worm that needs to be protected from harm at all costs.
Went to the website to try and learn about what it is. All it says is “sign the petition”. Clicked on what we are about and another button that says”sign the petition” Seems kinda like using pallet wood as a back drop for the live broadcast studio at the tour stops. It’s all about the optics but no substance.
In my biology class we had to calculate our carbon foot print. Can’t imagine what Slater and ELO’s are.
Sign the Petition to destroy 40% of the worlds oceans. Link in my bio.
Elo, always up to something fishy and trawling for approval.
30×30? Wow, so the WSL is now making an ESPN 30×30 fishing documentary or am i missing something? (not exactly a sequel to my 30×30 doc “Hawaiian: the Legend of Eddie Aikau” which i produced) but an interesting add to the series.
4 Days In October is a good one