Monterey Bay Aquarium sustainable seafood events

Off to Monterey this week, to talk about sustainable seafood with experts. Sort of like taking coal to Newcastle.

Going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium is like making a pilgramage. This is the home of the modern ocean awareness movement, thanks to the Packard family. This is also the home of consumer education about seafood. And...this is also the home of my first inklings of getting out of science and into conservation advocacy.

It all started when I was a postdoc at the Hopkins Marine Station, and I started to find scientific research to be an incomplete answer to the concerns that were concerning me...yeah I'm sure you all want to hear about that.

Fast forward to 2007, and I get to come back as a conservation expert. As they say where I come from..."well shut my mouth"

But I probably won't. I have now some ideas on what we all need to do to get to more sustainable seafood. I think we need some solid, practical steps for seafood businesses to take, that move things in the right direction. It's not good enough to articulate the goal, we need to help demonstrate purchasing practices and policy engagement options that will make tomorrow's seafood more sustainable than today's seafood. Too many people seem to want to "set the bar high" for sustainability. What good is a high measure of success if NOBODY can meet it?

Going back to Monterey reminds me of a few late evenings at Lover's Point on the peninsula, and some late evening diving off of beaches that weren't exactly public. And windsurfing at Asilomar during a strong stormy southerly that spawned an actual waterspout. And the great trail running in Pebble Beach. There is good fun to be had in Pacific Grove and Monterey.

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