The Cousteau Legacy Lives On: PlantAFish

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Taiga Company Yobo Member
June 14th, 2010

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In commemoration of oceanographic explorer Jacques Cousteau’s 100th birthday, his eldest grandson, Fabien Cousteau, continues the legacy with the recent launch of his non-profit organization, PlantAFish.

Closing the gap between eco awareness and eco action, PlantAFish aims to educate people through hands-on experience with underwater ecology and restoration. The idea is that when individuals feel connected to nature and its beauty, they’re more likely to do what they can to preserve it and encourage others to do the same.

PlantAFish officially opens its doors this past Monday in New York with its first project working with students from the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School to plant oysters in the Hudson.

In grand Cousteau fashion, PlantAFish has committed to ambitious goals–planting one billion oysters over the next few years at several sites in the Hudson and the East River. Other projects envisaged by Mr. Cousteau’s group include planting one billion sea turtles in the mangroves of El Salvador and one million corals in the Maldives and in the Florida Keys. Each program ranges in cost from $15,000 to $65,000.

“We need to see our natural world as a bank account where we have to live on the interest rather than eating away at the capital,” Mr. Cousteau said. “Plant a Fish is one of the ways that we can start restoring that capital.”

“It’s a perfect time to celebrate our ocean planet. The stewardship of our water planet and the health of our future generations can be summarized in the five words I heard as a child: “People protect what they love.” -Jacques-Yves Cousteau

It is time we stop living on this planet and start living with this planet.

This story originally appeared at the Taiga Company Blog

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Photo: Gonçalo Veiga

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