MPF is collaborating with photographer Jon Tonks and We Feed The UK to share stories of those trying to fish sustainably along England’s South West coast.

We Feed The UK is a project from The Gaia Foundation using the transformative power of positive storytelling to grow support for nature-friendly food production. Ten photographers and ten poets have been commissioned to document ten stories from around the UK, featuring regenerative farmers, urban growers, sustainable fishers and grain rebels: the UK’s custodians of soil, sea and seed. Their works are being exhibited across the UK and Martin Parr Foundation is showing A Fish Called Julie. Sustainability in the South West, a new body of work by Jon Tonks.

From A Fish Called Julie. Sustainability in the South West © Jon Tonks

Oceans have nourished us for thousands of years, but the bounties of our blue planet are ebbing. Climate change is adding pressure to that from the tidal wave of giant vessels, devastating populations and habitats through overfishing, bycatch and bottom trawling, legitimised by laws that spawn profit rather than sustainability.

For this new work Jon Tonks has spent over a year with those trying to fish sustainably along England’s south coast, documenting stories of many stewards of the sea; those preserving the livelihoods, culture, and marine life supported by blue waters.

From A Fish Called Julie. Sustainability in the South West © Jon Tonks

From A Fish Called Julie. Sustainability in the South West © Jon Tonks