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Hi Trevor -
Good to hear from you, it's been to long. I hope you are doing well.
As you know, I almost always keep what I write far away from this list.
However, in this instance Magnus asked a question which I replied to
with a possible answer. I wasn't attempting any grandstanding or
proselytizing or campaigning. Were that the case, I'd have probably used
a bit more than a few dozen words.
But, as your well-considered response illustrates, it did spark a bit of
discussion (and hopefully a bit of thought as well).
Thanks very much,
Nils
On 10/3/2014 9:19 AM, Trevor Kenchington wrote:
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> Nils,
>
> As an old friend, I should remind you that this is a mailing list for
> discussion of the science of fish and fisheries. I fully endorse your
> campaign against the policy distortions generated by foundation
> funding of an anti-fishing message but that campaign does not belong
> here.
>
> If we can stretch the remit of this list to include the
> social-scientific study of the general public's responses to fisheries
> issues, then I would have to say that the money is only part of the
> story. We should also ask why it gets spent disproportionately on
> anti-fishing, rather than anti-plastics, messages. I will guess at two
> possible answers:
>
> 1: Human beings are very good at finding reasons why their problems
> are not of their own making. (It's a behaviour pattern all too common
> amongst fishermen, to the detriment of fisheries management.) Since
> nearly all of us use and discard plastics, we (at least: the great
> majority of us) have to focus on some other cause for the changes to
> ocean ecosystems that we do not desire. An ENGO which spent its money
> telling people that they will see the cause best by looking in a
> mirror would not get much of a hearing. Demonizing the tiny proportion
> of the population that is involved in commercial fishing is a whole
> lot easier.
>
> 2: In the world we have all built together, large corporations carry
> great power. Too often, public interests only move forward when some
> corporation can make money from that advance. There are very large
> companies involved in the manufacture of plastics and others that make
> free use of those products in discardable packaging. While there are a
> few moderately large corporations involved in the seafood business,
> there are no really big ones. I'm not going to suggest that some
> petrochemical company has had lawyers warn off the ENGOs. Corporate
> power is usually far more subtle than that. But I will posit that the
> lack of any giant fishing corporations has made it possible for
> certain foundation-funded ENGOs to maintain their attack on commercial
> fishing over two decades without any effective riposte.
>
>
> I do not know whether anyone has tested such hypotheses through actual
> research. They are far outside my area of expertise. But a rationale
> or "scientific" approach to the problem might reveal much more than
> simply "following the money" can.
>
>
> Keep up the good fight ... though perhaps not through this medium!
>
>
> Trevor Kenchington
>
>
>
> On 2-Oct-14, at 9:30 AM, Nils E. Stolpe wrote:
>
>> On 10/2/2014 5:48 AM, Magnus Johnson wrote:
>>> I don't quite understand why this doesn't get more press.
>> Hi Magnus -
>>
>> I suspect it's because, unlike fishing, there aren't any
>> multi-billion dollar industry connected "charitable" foundations
>> telling reporters, producers, pols and the general public that
>> plastics pollution is a serious threat to the world's oceans.
>>
>> Best,
>> Nils
>
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