I suppose it began well before April 16th 2009.  In fact somewhere between January of 2004 and 2005.  Although I do not recall the exact date, I will never forget this day.  At the time I was working as a server for a restaurant in Vancouver called Raincity Grill.  Our restaurant was one of two well known restaurants in the city and were operated under the watchful eye of Robert Clark, Executive Chef.

The staff of both C Restaurant and Raincity Grill were requested to meet at C for an educational meeting with the Vancouver Aquarium.    We were there to learn about Ocean Wise, a conservation program created by the Vancouver Aquarium to help educate and build awareness toward sustainable seafood.  Our restaurants were on board with this program choosing only to serve sustainable seafood products.  Of course what good is such a program when you do not have all of the facts.  Our teachers went on to explain why it is so important to promote sustainable fishing and consumption as our Oceans are facing enormous pressures from not only pollution, acidification but also over fishing.

That afternoon we learned some horrible statistics, and suddenly I felt compelled to share my new knowledge with my guests.  I soon found that I was very proud to be working for a company that was doing what they could to help in an industry that is generally focused only on the bottom line.

That was over four years ago, and much has changed in my life since then. I’ve grown up, I am now married, I have done a lot of travelling and yet something was still missing.  For some reason I felt that something was not finished somewhere, a missing passion that I can not access somehow.  And then it happened…

Earth day, April 16th 2009.  I was living in Mexico for the winter where Dorado (or Mahi Mahi) is fished everyday no matter what the size, where prawn boats are out everyday and where tourists pay $200 to deep sea fish only to give their prize away after the thrill was all gone.  My passion suddenly arose and I was finally aware of something that truly matters to me.

I decided that on Earth Day my contribution would be to refrain from eating any seafood for one year.  I created a group on Facebook called “Don’t forget our Oceans” and off I went, trying to spread my message.  I now have 41 members and it has come to a halt.  Probably because groups on facebook are shortly lived attractions and also because I’m not sure how many other people can really not eat seafood for that long.

So I had to adapt.  It’s not about eating seafood, it’s about making better choices and changing demand.  I needed something bigger, something with a better potential to reach more people.  Well…this is it.  An Oceans View was born.  My blog to write, educate and create awareness about sustainability and the welfare of our Oceans.

I hope to give our Oceans a voice in this world by keeping my blog updated with news about conservation, sustainable fishing, related events, anything that will help my cause so that you can be better informed at home.

So that is how it all began, this is the first post of many more to come and I hope you choose to participate with me and share “An Oceans View”.