Coast Conscious

The state of Oregon is many things to various people all over. Though, to a group of individuals who reside on the coast and dedicate their lives to change, it is known as a pioneer in the growing industry of sustainable fishing: an industry created to save fish and human interest alike in an effort to clean up a historically old and often waste laden profession.

There are so many fish in the sea it is hard to imagine the ocean bare. However, at the current rate at which humans fish, this could soon be a reality. Already scores of species of fish are endangered and over-fished to exhaustion as the demand for fish worldwide is overwhelming. Currently, seafood is expensive and those prices will only go up as certain species continue to fall off the radar. Due to this issue becoming rapidly more severe it has only recently evolved into one of visible importance and, in September, I was lucky enough to meet with one of the groups taking action in Port Orford, Oregon.

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The Sublime Deep

On March 25th, 2012, James Cameron, the director behind Avatar and Titanic, traveled to the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest point of the Mariana Trench at almost 7 miles total. Equipped with a one man submersible eight years in the making, he was able to stay at the bottom for over six hours in order to collect 3D footage and other available samples. However, a trip such as this doesn’t come cheap. The last eight years have cost Cameron vast amounts of money as he has personally paid for the construction of his sub, the first of its kind. On top of that he has spent these last few years perfecting the sub and putting it through many trails in order to maximize its ability to collect useful data as well as bring him back alive. The pressure at this depth can kill a human instantly were there a single leak in the structure of the sub so there is no room for error. Man certainly does not have dominion at these depths.

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