I guess one of the realisations that one is getting old is when young people write to you asking for some advice or words that may help them in their careers.
you have no idea what will hapen, but stick to some principles
My 1st reaction is normally… I have no idea how I got here… I still pinch myself about it almost every day! I had no clue what would happen, but I stuck to a few principles!
I'd say I get a mail or message once every two months on average…. and I guess today was the one for the end of the year. Their background normally is your marine science/fisheries graduates that are keen to get involved in research, developments or activist angles.
I have been vocal that the biggest challenge I see in fisheries is talent attraction and retention; not only is there a criminalisation of fisheries set-up, but also the fact that civil society expects excellence from everyone in the sector, yet we pay mediocrity at best… so no wonder we have no new people and ideas.
I normally go back to older emails to collect my thoughts… so this time, I put a few in bullet points to keep them for another opportunity… then I decided to do this blog… so I can refer them when next.
This case was particularly interesting since the young scientist that wrote to me volunteered for Sea Shepperd, whose founder went very personal on me for my views on the seaspiracy movie (i’d said almost the same that Daniel Pauly but 2-3 days earlier)… that got me (and my dad with my same name) some death threats later on… but is old story now
Below is my answer, for whatever is worth:
And thanks for reaching out! And thank you for your kind words!
Not sure if I’m at all qualified or experienced to advise anyone 😊… furthermore, I was subjected to substantial personal abuse by Paul Watson and then death threats by supporters of Sea Shepard (the organisation you work with?), for my opinions… so you may disagree with all of them... but here I go:
I’m a humanist… is always about people and the incentives we offer them to behave one way or the other. A sense of fairness drives me… not one of righteousness. I don't buy into the crusader stereotype, the saviour, the eco-warrior, etc. Some rules are stupid, and there is a process to change them (surely is flawed and slow, but denaying it is not good either)… yet rules should be applied with fairness… not just to some, while others avoid them.
No one in fisheries (or any aspect of life) is totally guilty or innocent. It is the extent of it that varies, according to different people. No one has the moral upper ground here.
I focus my work on governments and regional organisations. If one wants to help, one needs to support the official institutions in the countries whose statutory existence is to deal with the issue you want to help. And this is not because the government is better… is because - we like it or not, there will be some form of government in 20-25 years… and I don't know if there will be a particular NGO.
Sustainability and environmental damage are not the same. The only way we will not have any environmental impact is for everyone to die at once; anything else implies compromises. Where that compromise is, depends on personal choice and public policy. For me, sustainability is a process, not a line drawn somewhere. Everything has advantages and disadvantages, and we have to navigate ethical choices since there is no one perfect way to achieve a complex goal.
The main issue that I learned is that to deal with all sorts of issues in fisheries, you need a toolbox and not just a hammer. When you only have a hammer, then you start to see every problem like a nail… and that is never the case.
Be always aware of the truly damaging substrate of colonisation and imperialism… not just in the colonised/intervened countries… but also in how its impacts the preconceived ideas of those growing up in a coloniser / imperialistic country.
In my personal view, the whole concept of working in “developing countries” while most times well-intentioned, is deeply rooted in colonial thinking… this is perhaps the biggest issue that I struggle with in my work… and is, to a certain extent, unavoidable if you work in this industry… Hence I try to focus always on working with individuals, spending as much time in the country with them as possible and trying to understand to the best of my capabilities their culture, family and worldview.
Of the people we interact with in the world, around 15% live below 1 USD a day, and around 45% live below 2 USD a day (this is the segment where my mother’s family comes from and where I grew up). At present, 71% of the world’s population earn less than 10 USD a day; in other words… almost 3 of every 4 people on our planet earn less per day than the cost of a bottle of wine at a western supermarket. The definitions of sustainability, efficiency, governance and sustainability are decided by rich western countries that comprise the top 29% of the population, the ones that can afford to plan for a future… We are very good at forgetting that too.
Even after 30 years of doing international work, I am still learning the challenges of decolonising my perceptions of my work. It also made me realise that my European side thinks in “me” terms, while my non-European side thinks in “we” terms.
Finally, and this is not just for work, but for me as a person, I try to live to 2 rules: never be ungrateful, and never be pretentious.
Hopefully, this is of help to you… it is quite helpful to me to order my ideas about it… so I’m actually thankful to you for having made the question
I wish you the best in your work
Francisco