God’s Will and the Ocean: Episode 54

God’s Will and the Ocean
True Father Speaks on: Who Will Inherit the Ocean?, page 170-173
July 3, 1983, Gloucester

The Ocean and the Future

What is the value of a person? Look at me. What is my value? I am a religious leader. Many people get angry about me and say, "Why doesn't this man just stay in the church? Why does he come out fishing and why does he do so many other things?" I sometimes think about that. I could put on a robe and stay in the church all day long. That would be very easy. I wouldn't have to worry about all the things I have initiated. There are so many projects now and more to come. If Christianity had fulfilled all its goals and ideals, I would not have that much to do, but that is not the case. Instead, without even thinking deeply about my work, Christians have come out strongly against me. Who has ever supported me?

Even though members in the Unification Church have supported me, I had to first initiate and explain everything. Even my own family needs time to understand me. Why is it so difficult for the world to accept me? It is because many religious leaders would have to change their own ideas to accept me and they don't want to do that. Some people admire me and want to help me, but they are also afraid of me because of my penetrating mind and spirit.

Communism has a system of thought behind it, an ideology that guides it, but democracy does not really have such a unifying thought. However, Reverend Moon's thought surpasses the ideology of communism and this is very clear to them. They are not afraid of physical power such as the United States military power. The race is already over in that area and they are the winner. However, unification philosophy is a bigger problem to them. They are far more afraid of that.

I have pioneered a new path in every area, beginning with thought or philosophy. I have also demonstrated how to begin economic projects, business and technical projects such as the factories in Korea and Germany. Then, why did I start Ocean Church? Why have I given it such importance? You can see, I am working day in and day out on the ocean. Why am I doing that? You have heard me speak about this before.

The ocean is an orphan. It has no master, no real owner who loves and takes care of it. The fishing industry is also going under. The industry can't move an inch, it's so tight. In a few years it will be difficult for man to live off the land alone. The population is now almost four billion. It will increase by tenfold. What will happen? The land itself will be crowded. There will be less space to farm and more people to feed. The population problem is one of two very serious questions. The other is pollution. To me, the problem is how to see these questions in a new light. The worst aspect of pollution is in the air, exhaust fumes from cars, factories and such things. In the future, there will be a limit upon anything that produces exhaust, even cooking. Any kind of extra smoke or gas exhaust will not be tolerated.

That means that we will try to eat foods without so much cooking, which means we will eat more raw foods, raw vegetables, raw fish. Anyway, it's good for their health, so people will turn to it. For a while, mankind may try to escape to space and live up there, but the difficulties and expenses will be too much and he will come right back to earth. Then, man will have to turn to the ocean. It is only a matter of time. The future of the ocean is inevitable. Is fish good for the diet? Ten or twenty years ago, Americans never even dreamed about eating anything raw, much less fish. Now they are going to Japanese restaurants and trying out the sushi and sashimi. If fish is going to be the main source of the human diet, what kind of fish would be the best to supply it? We have to produce a large fish and utilize all its qualities. What kind of fish should we use? Whales? Tunas? And what else? Shark! Actually, whales are not good to use for feeding lots of people. They are too large. They only give birth to one calf per cow and it takes a long time for them to gestate.

Let's look at the tuna and the shark. They contain the tastiest kind of meat. That's true! You may not have tasted it, but I have tasted many kinds of shark in different ways. Shark is good for dry meat. It doesn't have so much fat. On the other hand, tuna has lots of oil content in the meat. So, these two kinds of fish are the best for providing a wide variety of fish taste to humans.

In Japan, they are now studying how to farm tuna. This is a very serious enterprise for them and it means a great deal for the future that we envision. Here are some things to consider. One female tuna lays about 1.5 to 3 million eggs at each spawning. Now, in the natural setting only a very few of these eggs even survive to become baby fish. Most of the eggs are eaten by predators. And then, to survive the first few years is almost as difficult, so very few tuna live to maturity.

It takes about two years for them to grow to where they can escape most dangers. A fully grown tuna can travel with speeds from seventy-five to one hundred knots. That is their "get-away" speed. However, when they are just cruising they go from twenty to thirty five knots. That's some cruise. If you study the anatomy of the tuna you will see that they are created for speed. The shark is also capable of speed, but not at all like the tuna. All the fins fold in and the tuna takes on the shape of a torpedo. Tuna not only swim fast, but also travel great distances-all over the world.

Think about the mature tuna. It often weighs 700 or 800 pounds. If you catch just one tuna and then use the dressed meat, around 80%, which is approximately 550 to 750 pounds, you have that much meat to feed people with. Most people eat two or three pounds of meat each day, but they should eat only one or two pounds. If they were to eat like that, you could feed 500 or 600 people each day with one tuna. If you catch 100 tuna, you feed that many more people.

You can use every part of the fish for something. Shark skin can be used for jackets and shoes. The skin is very durable and rugged. The teeth can be made into jewelry. Why not? One day, Daikan came up with the bright idea to dry and smoke the shark meat. Later on he gave up, but that was the right idea. All parts of the fish can be used. You can crush up the left-over parts and make it into fish powder. With that you can make bread and feed people. That will not only fill them up, but provide protein as well. Think about what this would mean in Africa. There is no such thing as waste when it comes to fish.

Well then, if we are to catch hundreds or even thousands of tuna, where can we farm them? You cannot put them into a fenced-in place. The whole ocean can be populated with tuna. Then, the fishermen will have to develop the means to harvest them. Tuna sushi and sashimi are beginning to be popular. Who discovered this way of making fish for eating? I once thought to myself that if the white people had first discovered tuna sushi, there would be no way for the world to have tuna in the future. They would have taken all of them by now. We can plant all kinds of food on the ocean floor. We have to study about that, but the possibilities only stop with us. The ocean is that vast—our minds are too small for it yet. The future is coming and there is so much there. Ironically, young people in America are leaving the fishing way of life. Look at Gloucester. It used to be the hub of the fishing world, but now it is run-down. It is not because the fish ran away. Young people ran away. That's what is happening. Many fishermen go out and fish for long days and weeks. They come back and haven't made so much money. When that happens, the wife and husband often fight. Then, he goes out and comes back and one day the wife has run away. So, the young people and the wives are running from the fishing way of life. That means eventually the fisherman himself will run away. 

When a serious man loses his wife, he no longer thinks about marrying again. The same thing happens when the reason to continue fishing is gone. The serious fisherman just gives up on fishing altogether. Today, you can see so much corruption going on in the once prosperous fishing harbors. The Mafia is prevailing, there are buyers who fix the prices against the fishermen and cheat them at the dock, and drug smuggling is a problem in every harbor.