Marina Vaughan, Director - Blue Marine Foundation
2011 has been a good year for fish sustainability in the UK. Public consciousness has gone through the roof and it looks like the EU will soon (finally) be acting to do something about fish discards.
As you may have seen, Well Seasoned's current competition is to win a DVD of The End of the Line, the award-winning film that can claim a lot of the credit for kick-starting the groundswell. After production of The End of the Line finished, a number of the film makers were so moved by what they had discovered that they formed The Blue Marine Foundation, a UK charity aimed at increasing the global marine reserves from 1% to 10% of our oceans within the next 10 years.
We were lucky enough to get an exclusive interview with (the appropriately named) Marina Vaughan, director of the charity. Here's what she had to say:
Q: Tell us how you first got involved with Blue Marine Foundation.
A: I met the founders of Blue - George Duffield and Chris Gorell Barnes, who produced The End of the Line, saw the film and was inspired by their vision. After that, I joined the team and helped to set up the charity.
Q: Before End Of The Line, were you personally aware of the scale of the problem or was it the film that brought it home to you?
A: No. The book and the film opened my eyes.
Q: So after EOTL the BMF was formed. As an organisation it has some pretty ambitious aims, for example, making 10% of the world's ocean into protected marine reserves within 10 years. Is that really realistic?
A: Absolutely. This is the most solvable environmental problem the world faces.
Q: The End of the Line was shown at 10 Downing Street and one of BMF's goals is to work with governments to construct the right legislative framework for marine conservation. Do you feel the current UK government is living up to it's promise to be the greenest ever?
A: This government has made some important steps already. In a unique deal with Blue and the Bertarelli Foundation the British government have doubled the area of ocean under full protection, creating the world's largest marine reserve in the British Indian Ocean Territory. Cameron has a great opportunity to continue becoming the 'greenest government ever' by adopting a more 'blue' policy, responding in a far-sighted, world-leading way to the latest environmental crisis now presenting itself - in the oceans.
Q: 2011 has seen something of a revolution in public consciousness when it comes to fish sustainability, at least in the UK. Is it possible to replicate that around the world including in less developed nations which account for so much more of the world's fish consumption?
A: Of course it is.
Q: Even with some very impressive names on board and some amazing contacts it's still sometimes difficult for you to be heard. As individuals, can we really do anything that makes a difference?
A: Yes. We need mass good - not mass perfect - every little action can and does make a difference. There is a saying that what we do is just a drop in the ocean, but without that one drop, the ocean would be less because of it. Well, as individuals, our actions are the same. For example, as consumers we can choose to buy sustainably caught fish, we can eat in restaurants that source their produce in a responsible manner (see Fish2Fork our partner organisation that rates restaurants on the sustainability of their fish) and through choices like these we can influence what restaurants and retailers sell.
Q: Finally, what's your favourite fish to eat right now?
A: Pot caught spider crab.
If, like us, you believe in what the Blue Marine Foundation is doing and would like to support them, you can make a donation through their website. 
