What Do We Say and Why?
There is an enormous variety of terms to describe the Ocean, its populations and their exploitation. Although these words cover identical realities, their political, economic and ethical implications differ significantly. For this reason, we are committed to sharing our terminology choices and their implications.
Ocean
Seastemik refers to the Ocean in its planetary, living dimension. Capitalised and used in the singular, the Ocean denotes the vast body of salt water that covers our planet and connects all marine ecosystems into a single, interdependent whole.
Life on Earth depends intimately on the billions of ocean creatures, plankton, fish, cephalopods, cetaceans and many others. They are what makes oxygen production, carbon capture, climate stability, human health and global food security possible. Beyond their ecological functions, these marine species form a community of sentient animals who live, feel and interact.
Humanity rests upon this living symphony.
Systemic Approach
Seastemik takes a systemic approach to ocean protection. Connecting food, animal welfare, climate, human health and social justice as elements of a single complex system, where each action influences the whole. Seastemik acts at every scale, from local to global, mobilising civil society, businesses and institutions to address the ocean emergency in a lasting way, rather than acting solely on its individual symptoms.
Le singulier ayant pour conséquence d’objectiver les poissons, nous préférons parler d’eux au pluriel pour rappeler leur individualité. Nous appliquons ce principe à toutes les espèces animales souvent associées à de la nourriture (saumons, thons, maquereaux, morues…). Nous utilisons le singulier lorsque le contexte évoque l’espèce et non l’individu.
Les saumons
Fish: Populations, Resources, Stocks?
We prefer to use the term "populations" when referring to wild fish, rather than stocks or resources, which objectify them and imply a utilitarian and commercial perspective. We associate animal species, and fish in particular, with "resources" only when acknowledging certain coastal communities that depend directly on them for their livelihoods.
Seafood, Food, Dietary Choices?
We use the expression "ocean-related dietary choices or practices" rather than "seafood" or "food", because what we are discussing are animals (tuna, sardine, salmon…). They are first and foremost sentient living beings, who take on the status of food as the result of an individual or societal choice. Whether we are talking about seaweed, mussels or sardines, these species, animal or plant, exist independently of the use we choose to make of them. Describing them as food or products reduces their existence to the primary use that humans make of them.
Animal Welfare
We use this term rather than the industry's preferred language of "animal well-being", which is often deployed to obscure the mistreatment of farmed animals.
