Surfers Against Sewage - A Chat With the Boss.

We like to think about our continued existence on the planet as a species, so we will need to look after mother earth. That's a fact. None should be more important to us sea going mortals than the ocean and factors that effect our water and wave quality. Surf Bunker has been lucky enough to grab a few moments with one of the pioneers in the field of changing the way we approach water pollution for waves, for wildlife and for life in general.

Hugo Tagholm is the man spearheading the organisation called Surfers Against Sewage or SAS for any of you have been living under a rock, and I do know a few. Hugo has very kindly spared us some time to explain exactly what SAS stands for, what they are doing at the moment and how you guys can be a part of it.

SB: Hi Hugo, thanks for talking to Surf Bunker, hows the weather in the UK at the moment?

Hugo: No problem at all, currently we have perfect weather and perfect waves here in Cornwall where SAS HQ is based.

SB: When did you first get involved with Surfers Against Sewage and why?

Hugo: I have been involved back since the very early days of SAS, and its our 25th Anniversary this year. I first became aware of the charity in 1991, I had actually been living in Capbreton, France for a few months and when I came back to the UK, I entered a surf comp in Polzeth called 'Surf the Save' which supported a number of charities including SAS and Greenpeace. That's where I met some of the founding members and became a member myself.

SB: What made you want to get involved in SAS, did you come in at the top?

Hugo: Well, I came in at the very bottom, as a paying member,(one of the most important things you can do to support SAS) back in 1991. I then helped with a number of specific campaigns across the years - Gernsey Sewage demos, climate change protests in London and so on. I then became a voluntary trustee, thanks to my very good friend Alex Dick Read, in the late 2000's. When the role of chief executive came up I put myself forwards - here I am six and a half years later having made what I hope as a clear and significant impact to deal with the new issues of the current time.

SB: What is main aim and what would be 'top of the agenda' at the moment for SAS?

Hugo: SAS protect sites of special surfing significance, which to the non surfer is really our oceans, beaches and marine wildlife. SAS is a marine conservation charity  and we perhaps represent the people who interact most with the ocean not just passive observers of the sea. People who surf, swim, sail and immerse themselves in the ocean and as a result find themselves exposed to all the environmental impacts that we see in any microcosm of the beach environment. This includes marine litter, water pollution such as – sewage, farm run off's, urban run off's and coastal development. Three words sum SAS up nicely today - Waves, Environment, & Community.

We take the view that our surf spots should be recognized as an important site to conserve, just like our celebrated mountains or forests. Surf spots are important culturally, socially, economically and of course environmentally.   They are also unique and irreplaceable.

SB: How much impact does SAS have as regards to deployment of off-shore wind farms?

Hugo: SAS deal with the coastal developments on a case-by-case basis to help mitigate any impacts. This involves public and community consultation, discussions with developers and considering all of the environmental evidence and studies that are available, or calling for more .

A great example of this recently was on the south coast of the UK where an array of wind turbines was planned and threatened surf spots in and around Brighton with a 25% reduction in surfable wave height. With careful dialogue and consultation with the developer, SAS was able to reduce to reduce this to an estimated 3% impact. So we aim to create a win win situation, a win for the environment (e.i renewable energy developed successfully), a win for surfers and the local marine environment ( sites of special surfing interest recognized and protected ).

SB: How closely does SAS work with the Surfrider Foundation or other international environment surf organizations?

Hugo: We work with them side-by-side, as part of what we call the Global Wave Coalition. In October this year SAS are hosting the Global Wave Conference in Cornwall and in London which will bring together Surfrider International, Save the Waves, Wild Coast, Surfrider Europe, Sustainable Surf and many other great enviro-surf NGO's. We will be discussing and sharing strategies, collaborating to better protect waves and surfing interests around the world. We have some big name surfers lined up for it!

SB: What sort of thing could we do as surfers on a daily basis to help on a regular trip to the beach?

Hugo:Taking action with Surfers Against Sewage is a great place to start - participate in our government & industry lobbying, sign our petitions, come to our demos, join us at a beach clean, hook up with your local regional rep. I think all to often in this day and age people think that just clicking a 'like' is a bit of activism but unfortunately as much we encourage the clicking, we need deeper activism to protect waves, oceans and beaches. Joining SAS makes a big difference to our campaigning ability so I'd encourage all your readers to join us.

There are all sorts of solutions on our website like our 'Return to Offender campaign' where people, return identifiable marine litter to the manufacturer to ask them what they are doing about reducing their impact on the marine environment and what policies they are putting in place to change their industry practices.

SB: What about the team as SAS, you must work with some interesting people?

Hugo: The team at SAS are passionate water users and passionate environmentalists, they live and breathe what we do and they burn the midnight oil to make sure we can achieve the results. There is not a lot of surfing that goes on with our campaigns, its all about protecting the environment that we surf in.

SB: Do you have any help from the UK government at all?

Hugo: We have worked on a specific project with the government, the 'Safer Sea Service' which had some DEFRA funding to make sure that we could supply real time alerts about water quality. This is one of the pioneering projects that we have done through SAS, making sure that we leverage the real time information about sewage pollution at over 350 of the country's best surf spots and beaches. Prior to our intervention this information was never made accessible to the public, about when and where sewage is discharged into the sea and the impacts that it can have on your health. And people thought the sewage issue was filly resolved! Think again!

SB: Does SAS do any work in schools?

Hugo: Yes we do lots of work in schools, we have a program called 'Seas for Life' which is an outreach programme that we take into schools and connect with thousands of students every year. The kids are very receptive to our message because the surfing provides a vehicle to make conservation cool in their minds . A great way of getting it into their heads early.

We also do a lot of education in and around our beach cleans which mobilize between ten and fifteen thousand people every year including lots of families. We do workshops, we do education talks, we do lectures and we go into different businesses to do talks so there is a whole range of eduction at different levels.

SB: Thanks Hugo, I just have one question I like to ask everyone. Can you describe how it made you feel the first time you got barrelled or caught a wave?

Hugo: I remember one of my first very good waves, at Lynmouth actually, I was with a good friend of mine and I remember it being an amazing feeling... an elation really. A lot of people use the term of the flow and being in the zone and it is that sort of focus, you know. You are riding the wave so perfectly that you feel kind of almost outside of yourself.

Again a massive thanks to Hugo for sparing the time to talk to Surf Bunker.

SAS now has in excess of 150,000 supporters and almost 60 regional reps engaging communities across the United Kingdom. They also have their own all party Parliamentary group and with 85% of all donations going directly to the front line and some extremely invested staff it is a no brainer, why not get involved and help get their message out there.

To sign up and become a member of SAS costs as little as £3 a month which, as Hugo pointed out, is as much as a large Latte. Now that's not a lot is it. Check out the details at www.sas.org.uk/join.