Global Resistance: The Power of Protests, Posters, Placards & PR - Fighting Off Toxic Salmon!

Global Resistance: The Power of Protests, Posters, Placards & PR – Fighting Off Toxic Salmon! https://t.co/XF6FXHmHol
Please join the global boycott against pharmed salmon – friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon! #GlobalSalmonFarmingResistance pic.twitter.com/9IXhiIsSnM

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 5, 2022

When I first came across Alexandra Morton – dubbed the 'Jane Goodall of Canada', "salmon saviour" and "resistance fighter" in a recent profile piece – back in the 1990s she was pictured in her wee boat holding two signs. One was in Norwegian which read 'Ingen Lus' and the other was the English translation: 'No Lice'. The message to the people of Norway and to Norwegian companies operating lice-infested salmon farms in British Columbia was crystal clear in any language. And to anyone around the world seeing her one woman (and one dog) protest.

I've been lucky enough – and old enough – to have been involved in the global fight against toxic salmon farms for over two decades and the messages used to fight off the pharmed menace have always been powerful.

The power of protest – even if it is just one lady in a wee boat with two hand-made signs or three chiefs in a boat dressed in regalia – has spread the word around the world that the predominantly Norwegian-owned salmon farming industry is a malignant cancer on our coasts.

Whether the cages, pens or feedlots are in Canada, Norway, Scotland, Chile, Ireland, Tasmania, New Zealand, Iceland, Maine, Washington, the Faroes or wherever this noxious industry expands next – the messages carry the same resonance and raw people power.

The age of the internet has brought protests into the boardrooms and shareholders of Mowi (formerly Marine Harvest) and other corporations promoting lousy salmon farming.

One-woman or one-man protests can still be seen all around the world spreading the message that salmon farms are not wanted.

Although crowds of people – especially if they have drums, TV cameras, microphones, rafts and police protection – does help convey a more vocal message to the people in power!

The placards and posters do not need to be professionally made to hammer the point home.

Nevertheless, the expert assistance of groups like Greenpeace, the Green Warriors, Sea Shepherd and the Superheroes 4 Salmon always helps too.

It's a cheesy cliché but the power of one is huge and every one of us has that power. Or to quote Margaret Meade: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has".

People power can indeed change government policy and can kick lice-infested salmon farming companies out of communities who have not given their consent!

Come rain, shine or snow – warriors wanting to fight against disease-ridden salmon farming will always be there to stand up.

Where would the global resistance movement be though without the protest signs and placards which come in all shapes and sizes (not forgetting the film-makers and photographers to record them for posterity)!

It has been an inspiration to stand shoulder to shoulder with so many powerful people during protests over the years.

Sadly, we've lost some heroes along the way too.

Thanks to the power of posters and graphics the resistance movement against salmon farming lives on and will always be here as long as filthy feedlots pollute our global oceans.

A big shout out there to all the graphic designers, poster-makers, placard scribblers, photographers, film-makers, flag-sewers and creative artists out there without whom the world would be a poorer place (and without whom there would be even more salmon farms).

And don't forget the cartoonists like Adrian Raeside and others for bringing a much needed smile to our faces.

Calvin vomits in his mouth just at the thought of farmed salmon! https://t.co/XF6FXHmHol @Calvinn_Hobbes pic.twitter.com/1dF0P5sgWN

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 6, 2022

Graphic designers can make you chuckle too (depending on your sense of humour).

Please remember the newspaper advert designers who get the message out to the masses all around the world.

Or the bumper sticker-makers who help drive the message home every single day.

Speaking personally, I'm a sucker for a film spoof.

And the reel deal:

Whatever your sense of humour, there's always space in the global resistance movement against salmon farming for all ages and all colours (even all those pink shades on the SalmoFan).

You certainly don't need to be a real life superhero to crusade against salmon farms.

After all, Alexandra Morton kick-started a global movement in a wee boat with two posters. And thirty years later she's still making waves.

Even if you've got a face for radio and don't like going outside in public, you can join Alexandra Morton and thousands of other warriors around the world by taking the pledge not to eat farmed salmon online now!

Go wild as former Alaskan fisherwoman Anne Mosness would say!

If you have any doubts about farmed salmon please read 'Toxic' by Richard Flanagan.

"Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry" – published @PenguinBooks on 26 April https://t.co/WlBHM9flOl
"Richard Flanagan’s exposé of the salmon farming industry in Tasmania is chilling" #RichardFlanagan
When is the Scottish edition out? @tavishscott pic.twitter.com/uu78TGOKka

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 21, 2021

Finally, if anyone has any creative ideas for graphics or wants to share any placards, posters and photos of other protests please email me via salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com

"I try to be strategically nimble so that I can respond to the shape & direction of the wave. I have intentionally kept my voice free from big institutions so the opposition can’t find & cut off my supply line" (Alexandra Morton)
A visionary life lesson! https://t.co/98MzIhyeVn pic.twitter.com/LwxzsEZo4v

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 3, 2022