Retake the narrative about aquaculture: expert
“We
need to make sure that we are backed up with legitimate and unbiased facts when
we put forth our belief that aquaculture is the answer to saving the oceans …
not the threat.” – Dr. Hugh Mitchell
By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews
A globally recognised fish health expert is
calling on the aquaculture industry to retake the narrative about farming the
oceans saying “the risk to our future is too great if we don’t farm aquatic
species”.
“The notion of how critical aquaculture is
to both our seafood supply and saving our aquatic ecosystems is a right and
just one,” said Dr. Hugh Mitchell, an aquaculture veterinarian who has been
providing fish health tools to seafood farmers across the US and Canada for three
decades.
In an article published by Aquaculture
Magazine, Dr. Mitchell said: “stock enhancement aquaculture is absolutely
essential for the maintenance of wild sport and commercial species.
“It is naive to think that wild habitat and
ecosystems can be restored so that natural runs of salmon and other species
will fully meet our expanding seafood demands, or that this trend can be
curbed.
“We absolutely need both stock enhancement
and “egg to fork” aquaculture. The narrative must be retaken and a litany of
real science-backed, vivid messages, soundbites and memes generated, with a
continual barrage to drive home the ideology that the risk to our future is too
great if we don’t farm aquatic species.”
Dr. Mitchell who is a director of the Northwest
Aquaculture Alliance (NWAA), said the anti-movement certainly seems to have a
lot of time to volley a litany of fish farm hazards allegations.
“What is not genuine about their efforts is
that they often use these unquantified “hazards” as reasons why a particular
aquaculture industry should be banned, instead of framing the risks.
“A more constructive and genuine approach would
be a call to get together, assess, and quantify real and perceived risks, and
then work to mitigate the risks to as low as reasonably achievable and
acceptable, instead of calling for the elimination of the hazard.
The unreasonable “Precautionary Principle”
calls for “no risks are acceptable” or “prove the negative” and is not how
society works.
“It is a rhetorical tactic, not a reasonable
and workable one. We don’t eliminate automobiles or airplanes because they
crash, we work at reducing the risks of accidents or the consequences of
accidents.”
Dr. Mitchell’s call to action comes in the
wake of a report by the Tofino-based anti-fish farm activist group,
Clayoquot Action, which is filled with falsehoods about B.C.’s salmon farming
industry .
“Combatting ideologies is a tough thing to
do. Facts don’t matter without a good publicity campaign. And sometimes, with a
good campaign, facts don’t matter either,” said Dr. Mitchell.
Dr. Mitchell said aquaculture proponents must
promote their message more effectively and stave off this emerging anti-aquaculture
sentiment.
But he warned fish farmers not to fall into
confirmation bias as the anti-aquaculture activists seem to be doing.
“We need to make sure that we are backed up
with legitimate and unbiased facts when we put forth our belief that aquaculture
is the answer to saving the oceans … not the threat.
“We need to insist on and use legitimate
and contextual metrics in order to make a case. We need to double check and
challenge our own assumptions and biases. We have to admit when there are
legitimate concerns. We should insist that scientific details are presented,
not just rhetoric, and that we engage the detractors in addressing the risks of
a hazard, not just calling for the elimination of that hazard.
“We like to take the high road and present
all the good about aquaculture. Unfortunately, most of the “feel good” stories
are not noticed.
“They don’t sell. So, what sticks out is
the opposite – dirty laundry and risky stuff.
“The anti-aquaculturists know this and that
is why there is a continual litany of bad press.
“They know that the more something is
repeated, the more we tend to believe it, whether it is true or not.”
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