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Quick answers to common questions
COLUMNS President’s Commentary Do We Advocate? Communications The King of Fish “Book Drop”: Generating Conversation and Shared Values about Salmon in Alaska Perspective Science and Advocacy in the American Fisheries Society:
The collaborative approach to natural resource management
has developed to include the needs, opinions, and perceptions of
a variety of people representing science, along with those representing
social or economic perspectives and often involving our
political system.
Effective advocacy is rarely the stuff of bumper stickers and bullhorns. People are more willing to consider new perspectives when they’re not force-fed; persuasion is most enduring when people are empowered to make their own conclusions. Fisheries advocates who face the task of building consensus around controversial issues should consider tools that help create community discussion where shared values can emerge. Youth education, art, and cuisine are examples of tools that can help us play the “long game” in advocacy. One group in Alaska recently experimented with a another tool, the “Book Drop,” where many copies of a thought-provoking book were freely distributed in hopes of sparking discussion about one of Alaska’s most unifying and divisive topics: salmon.
According to Wikipedia (2017), “advocacy is an activity by an individual or group which aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. Advocacy can include many activities that a person or organization undertakes including media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research or conducting exit poll or the filing of an amicus brief.” This definition is similar to that found in other, more traditional media. I like it because it captures a
more modern, popular view of the activity without being overly constraining. So, does AFS indulge in advocacy? Some would say no we do not; others, yes but not enough; and still others, yes way too much. Which is correct?
We discuss the need for the American Fisheries Society (AFS) to be involved in advocacy efforts. In doing so, we summarize our history, offer examples of past endeavors, capture the challenges of representing the views of a complex membership, and explain the opportunities awaiting AFS and its members. Our conclusion is that the Society must become more active in advocacy efforts as it seeks to make best use of its members’ knowledge and experience, their ability to inform others about fisheries science and management, and our collective ability to influence outcomes relevant to fish and fisheries.
It is said that everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not to his own set of facts. This statement is often not true in government. As we enter the Trump presidency, the ability of officials to order up customized facts—including “alternative facts”—should be a matter of growing concern to both scientists and citizens alike.
Biological data collection and processing involves numerous steps, is time consuming, and is error prone. We developed the Voice Data Recording System (VDRS) that eliminates multiple steps in the traditional process by integrating voice recognition software with a normalized, relational database to capture data onto a laptop computer.
By Niall G. Clancy | Department of Ecology, Montana State University, 310 Lewis Hall, Bozeman, Montana 59717. E-mail: [email protected] Native fish populations have continued to decline worldwide despite advances in management
By Jonathan Mawdsley | Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, 1100 First Street NE, Suite 825, Washington, D.C. 20002. E-mail: [email protected]; Davia Palmeri and Mark Humpert | Association of Fish and
May 9, 2017 — U.S. commercial and recreational fishing generated $208 billion in sales, contributed $97 billion to the gross domestic product and supported 1.6 million full- and part-time jobs in 2015
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