Santiago Metro and Oceana Celebrate ‘Month of the Sea’ with an Interactive Exhibition and Underwater Videos of Chile
Press Release Date: May 4, 2017
Location: Santiago, Chile
Contact:
Anna Baxter | email: abaxter@oceana.org
Anna Baxter
Santiago — This morning, as part of Santiago Metro’s cultural activities, the underground train and marine conservation organization Oceana inaugurated “Save the oceans to feed the world,” an interactive exhibition on display at Quinta Normal subway station on Line 5. The purpose is to celebrate May, month of the sea, and highlight the importance of protecting marine ecosystems from the overexploitation of their resources.
“During a time in which threats such as pollution and the overexploitation of fishing resources thrive, it is becoming extremely necessary for people to be aware of the importance of taking care of our ocean,” said Liesbeth van der Meer, Executive Director of Oceana Chile. “Today, 60% of Chilean fisheries are overexploited or depleted, meaning they’re seriously at risk of disappearing. That’s why the area that Metro has provided for people to learn about this problem is so important,” she added.
Today, there are fish species that are a source of food and work for millions of people, and these species are in a critical state. In Chile, the South Pacific hake, which up until a few years ago was the most popular fish at national tables, is overexploited. A number of studies indicate that if immediate measures involving authorities as well as consumers aren’t enforced, the South Pacific hake will disappear from our ocean and our tables 10 years from now.
“We must promote the responsible consumption of the South Pacific hake and the food security that these resources provide to coastal communities of our country. People should pay attention to fish size and avoid purchasing small ones, because it means they were unable to reproduce at least once,” warned van der Meer.
The interactive exhibition explains the risk of fishing overexploitation and the crisis of the South Pacific hake. In addition, videos of underwater life in different regions of Chile will be displayed on more than 700 screens set up at a number of Metro subway stations.
“We’re happy to offer our passengers an area that creates awareness on taking care of the environment. We’re certain that this contributes to alert our population on one of the critical aspects that affects our ocean,” said María Irene Soto, Sustainability and Customer Manager of Santiago Metro. “We invite our passengers to visit Quinta Normal station to learn about a relevant issue that affects all of us,” she added.
The interactive exhibition is free and will be available to all Metro passengers at Quinta Normal subway station, on Line 5, during the month of May.
More information: videos – audio files (in Spanish) – pictures
