Greenpeace and collaboration – the fractured world we live in

Collaboration is pointless, the fishing industry is destroying the living planet and the time for talk has passed – so says Greenpeace. But who agrees with them? Fiona MacMillan reports. 

On Monday this week, the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) kicked off its three-day annual conference with a whole day devoted to an oceans symposium. A wide variety of people with an interest in our oceans were there, but the gathering in the Grand Millenium Hotel in Auckland definitely tilted toward representatives from environmental NGOs.   

Amidst the activists, academics and advocates were three people from Seafood New Zealand and Phil Clow, retired fisher.   

Phil had been invited to speak on a panel on strengthening oceans management frameworks. Seafood New Zealand CEO Lisa Futschek was part of the last panel of the day, with four others, debating whether New Zealand needs an Oceans Commission. Something that would operate a bit like a climate or children’s commission, intended to give a voice to the oceans. 

Even before these panel sessions ran, the Symposium had delivered a clear theme – we have big problems, they are not simple, there is no one quick fix. The Hauraki Gulf was cited as a good example, where sedimentation, runoff, pollution and climate change are undermining the health and spirit of Tīkapa Moana. It was refreshing to be a fisher in the room and not hear (for a change) that it is all our fault.   

The international keynote speaker, Salvatore Aricó (CEO of the International Science Council) was asked where we should focus. He was clear – it needs to be a package of measures and we need multi-stakeholder dialogue. 

So far, so sensible and frankly, refreshing. But at 3:30pm, on the panel Lisa was part of, things changed. 

That’s because Greenpeace Executive Director Russel Norman had a very different view. And he wasn’t holding back. 

The three panellists ahead of him said that yes, something like an Oceans Commission is needed, as long as it has teeth.   

But Russel said it would be a tragedy if an incoming government spent time on creating an Oceans Commission because there are bigger issues to face. He claimed that our oceans are being destroyed by the fishing industry and there is no point doing another commission. He cited the Climate Change Commission and said it is being ignored by Government. He named specific fishing companies and said they are killing the planet and causing the death of life on earth. And then, in defiance of almost all previously expressed views, he said there is no space for collaboration on these issues, that time has gone.   

There was a smattering of applause in the room.   

Then it was Lisa’s turn to speak. 

Immediately, and then again and again over the 90-minute session, she corrected the record. She shared the facts on seamounts, trawling, our sustainability record and more. 

Lisa told the crowd, “I have to disagree immediately with Russel in the sense that collaboration is the key. And we’ve heard that from every speaker today so far…collaboration – getting everyone around the table [with] government, civil society, NGOs, environmental organisations, iwi, hapu… it's really, really critical that we collaborate to jointly fix these problems and do better.” 

Lisa made the point that the commercial fishing industry is keen to be part of the solution. We can be. We have been.   

Many of the people in the conference room know fishers like Phil Clow and therefore understand how hard we have worked to reduce our footprint, improve our gear, mitigate bycatch and shrink our fuel use. But many people at the Symposium will not have heard the seafood side of the story before. That’s because in today’s world, it is perfectly possible to exist in a bubble where you truly believe that fishing companies are out to destroy the planet.   

We have said this so many times it is in danger of becoming a cliché. We have no interest in cutting off our means of making a living. We learnt the hard lessons from the '70s and early '80s – hurting the ocean hurts your bottom line. If NGOs don’t trust us to care about the planet, perhaps they might trust us to do something in our own self-interests, which is to preserve the fishery that feeds us. 

In order to get out of our bubbles and learn, to save the planet, to keep our communities and oceans thriving, we must work together. We are in agreement with the vast majority of the people EDS brought together on Monday – collaboration is how this has to be done. It is the only way.