Promoting environmental sensitivity within the fishing industry

Abstract

The traditional fishing and shellfishing industries of New England depend on the vitality and renewability of the marine environment for their economic health, yet they have historically overfished species to near-depletion, resisted attempts to manage their resources, and discharged their wastes into coastal waters. In 1979, the Massachusetts Audubon Society established Resources for Cape Ann, a local program based in Gloucester, Massachusetts (the highest volume fishing port in New England), designed to encourage environmental sensitivity within the fishing and shellfishing industry. Among the techniques available for environmental education, Resources for Cape Ann chose to pursue cooperative political alliances on issues of common concern (e.g. Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas exploration and pollution of intertidal shellfish flats). Through these alliances, program staff built credibility and mutual understanding with key leaders of the industry, and then sought to translate that understanding into support for improved shellfish resource management and reduced fish processing waste discharges. Though this approach relies heavily on intense personal contact and though it at times requires the submergence of purely environmental concerns so as not to antagonize political allies, it has succeeded in improving shellfishermen awareness and building credibility among the fishing industry in general.