June 7 – Sarah & Julie

Started the day bright and early to see the behind-the-scenes of the city’s fish market!

The group took the 6:14 AM light rail train to the Sydney Fish Market. There, we learned that Australia has the third largest fishing territory in the world, and the largest fishing territory in the Southern Hemisphere. At Sydney’s fish market, 95% of the fish caught are weather dependent, meaning that the success of the fisheries and livelihood of the fishermen is controlled by the weather and climate- making the fishing industry a vulnerable market as the threat of climate change expands. Additionally, Australia’s coasts allow access to 10% of the world’s fish population, making the Australian fish industry a very important global source of food supply.

One of the many seafood products sold at Sydney’s Fish Market

The Sydney Fish Market is a bustling location; the seafood sold from the market is shipped to consumers worldwide. Because of the high demand for fish out of Sydney’s fish industry, the market uses a “reverse auction” to ensure that all seafood products are sold in a timely and efficient manner. Sellers arrive at the market at 4:00 AM every Monday-Friday morning. The auction begins at 5:30 AM, and by 9:00 AM, thousands of boxes of fish have already been sold to various buyers, including retailers and wholesalers.

Took a moment to flaunt our vibrant safety vests on the harbor outside of the fish market.

We were going to go on a biking tour of the Olympic Park in the afternoon, but drizzling rain all morning meant we had a change of plans. After a lively, democratic debate over our options, the majority ruled that we would go to see a movie called 2040. The premise of the movie was that a man wanted to introduce his young daughter to the concepts of climate change while sending her a positive message that there are technologies and projects which currently exist that can reverse our current course. They discussed microgrids in India that allowed the community to share solar electricity with each other on a grassroots level. It also talked about the power of regenerative agriculture in reducing emissions and sequestering carbon. The age old concept of educated women having fewer children was discussed, though the argument was very simplistic and did not discuss that population growth is not as dangerous as the large consumption rates of first world countries. Overall it was a good movie, full of hope for a positive future based on plausible choices, and a good way to reach broader audiences about the importance of addressing climate change.