Trade Associations – British Trout Association
The rules of engagement
D
uring my time serving the British trout industry, we have been lucky to avoid much of the ill informed, inaccurate and oft plain unfair negative publicity that
has been directed towards colleagues farming other species.
I am struck that whilst attending several
recent events, various keynote speakers have emphasised the need for collaboration and cooperation amongst all stakeholders with an interest in the aquatic environment. Specifi cally, there has been a message to representatives of the aquaculture industry to engage more proactively with the ENGO community. Collaboration and cooperation are certainly
two concepts that I embrace working for the BTA. To be an effective trade body I strongly believe one must represent membership views to third parties – but so too must one rep- resent the point of view of third parties back to the membership and to explain and advise where a change in attitude or practice might be to our benefi t.
DISPIRITING
So it is all the more disappointing when attempts at consultation and collaboration are thrown back in one’s face. It is dispir- iting that carefully orchestrated negative press coverage of a proposed demon- stration project (looking at the viability of marine trout farming off the coast of Corn- wall) has been instigated by some of the very people with whom the project board have been trying to consult and whose opinions and concerns are intended to be included in the project scope. More de- pressing still is that such negative publicity has been initiated before the scoping of the project has been completed, a site for the project identifi ed or even a commercial op- erator agreed, never mind the fi ner points of environmental impact assessments or agreeing a biomass or other site specifi cs. To broaden this further, one wonders what hope there is for our four national governments to deliver the EU Commis- sion aspiration for innovation and growth of aquaculture production across all EU member states, when even outline research
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projects designed to assess viability of certain options and thereby inform potential policy and strategies for growth are shot down by fundamentalist opponents to aquaculture. The argument that “we mustn’t as in the past and in other places mistakes have been made” is no longer a credible response. We must learn from, and not repeat, past mistakes – and the concept of transparent demonstration projects with a project board consisting of a number of partners (of whom the commercial operator is only one) has much to commend it – as indicated by the consideration given to such schemes by the Scottish and Irish govern- ments and such agencies as the Crown Estate and CEFAS. We have an obligation to consider how we might develop our aquaculture industry, in har- mony with other users of aquatic resources, and one must hope for unity from all interested par- ties – despite the vocal and regressive attitudes taken by certain opponents. We must continue to stand up to these critics, whilst continuing to build consensus through collaboration with oth- er genuine, proactive, aquatic stakeholders. FF
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Collaboration and cooperation are two concepts that I embrace
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