In 2009, actress Greta Scacchi and co-owner of Brighton’s MOSHIMO restaurant Nicholas Rohl asked themselves why the world’s media were not paying any attention to the devastation caused to our oceans by destructive fishing practices. They came up with the idea of Fishlove which each year helps catapult the issue onto the front covers and pages of the world’s media.

The release of Helena Bonham-Carter’s Fishlove image in 2015 is credited to have helped create the largest marine reserve in the world.

The first New Zealand coastal conservation area was created in 1975, the Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve. When carrying out periodic studies, scientists noticed something strange – not only had previously endangered species completely turned around and were now flourishing, the areas of ocean bordering the reserve had seen such a resurgence in fish stocks, that trawlers were seeing record trade.

The connection is actually pretty simple – fish in the ocean do not know where the reserve starts and ends, and they swim where they like. The sea was now so bountiful in the conservation areas the increased life spilled over into neighbouring zones.

The answer is clear – sustainability works.

Beginning with Greta’s friends and colleagues from a distinguished career in cinema and the performing arts, now celebrities from Sir Richard Branson to Dame Judi Dench have lent their support with captivating and humorous images loving the ocean’s treasures.

World class photographers the likes of Rankin, John Swannell and Denis Rouvre have helped to create iconic images which have graced billboards and newspaper front pages worldwide, with more in the pipeline.

It may seem a simple thing to photograph well known faces (and bodies) and broadcast them to the world, however this is far from so. Celebrities give their time, but studios cost money, billboard advertising can be discounted but is rarely free, and to bring the campaign to both the masses and the doorsteps of carefully targeted organisations such as the European Commission requires deep pockets.

All of the fish shown in Fishlove photographs are commercially caught, although some species shown are regarded by scientists as being over-fished and threatened. The Fishlove campaign highlights the beauty and vulnerability of the oceans and educates all of us on which fish we should eat and where we should source them.

The collapse of fish stocks is an environmental catastrophe that is seen by scientists as being as important as climate change. But the good news is that it is a catastrophe that can be easily averted. With the right political measures over the next five years, our seas can survive for generations to come.

“Fishlove’s weird and witty portraits remind us that life on land has an interdependent connection with life under the sea – helping to raise awareness and showing decision makers see how easy it would be to modify fishing practices, increase marine sanctuaries and reverse the threat of collapsing fish stocks.” – Greta Scacchi

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