environmental Strategist, between the lines: Since an environmental Strategist is a profession with its roots beginning in the 1990’s some strategies are not painted with a broad brush. We are more like the movie “What About Bob”, with Bill Murray, taking baby steps on our envirolutionary path. The article “Green Group Buys Out Fishermen to Protect Ocean Floor,” is a baby step in more ways than one.
The following competitive environmental intelligence supports a variety of strategies we have discussed over the years. First and foremost, a litigation based strategy, in general, wastes time and resources. Instead of putting the money into attorney’s pockets, this green group has decided to use their seed money to take a proactive approach. Why am I saying seed money, in environmental cases, legal fees have consumed a major percentage of the resources. At one time, in superfund cases, legal expenses consumed .83 cents of every dollar and when you consider your average superfund site costs in excess of $25,000,000 to clean up, well you get the picture.
If you have ever attended one of my seminars you have heard me state that I am not a tree hugger because to me tree huggers are a lot like the unions, they were very necessary and did a great job accomplishing their goals, but they have not changed with the times. Tree huggers started the litigation based strategy in dealing with environmental issues. If you think I am wrong look at the staff of major tree hugging groups and see if they have attorney’s on staff. Then take a look at private business and see what percentage of privates businesses have their own in house council versus the percentage of tree hugging groups.
Recent discussions have been going on with regard to, is environmentalism dead. These discussions revolved around the difficulty in getting donation dollars for the non-profit tree hugging groups. A big drop in donation dollars is due to donor frustration in not seeing more progress made with their contributions because a large portion of their donation has gone to feed the tree huggers legal platform.
This green group is showing how a proactive environmental Management Strategy (eMS) moves the user beyond litigation so they are assured they minimize risk, maximize value and optimize performance. For attorney’s that do not start assisting their client’s in development and execution of their eMS they can expect to loose business to those who do.
Also, as an attorney, insurance agent, realtor, accountant, environmental engineer, banker…. If do no have your eMS in place to assist your client’s in proactively addressing their environmental issues, when they experience an environmental loss, their only solution to the problem may be to file a claim against your E&O or D&O or GL insurance policies. If you question this, you better get more acquainted with SOX, SAB 92 Ruling, FIN 47 to name just a few.
I think it is safe to say, to date, attorneys have had a good ride on the environmental train. Believe it or not, it’s going to get even better, for everyone. The environmental train is switching tracks because attorney’s are learning, by assisting their client’s with their eMS, not only do their client’s minimize risk, maximize value and optimize performance while increasing profits but so do the attorney’s. Hard to believe, attorney’s will make even more, but they will, and the irony is everyone will be paying less for their legal services. An eMS allows the user to take control of their destiny versus being thrown into the litigation black hole where attorney’s still practice the law.
The next time you look to hire an environmental attorney you may want to find out if they are an environmental Strategist (eS) that understands how to be a TEAM member in development and execution of an eMS. If not then refer them to www.estrategist.com.
The next time you make a charitable contribution you may want to look to a tree hugging group utilizing a strategy that goes beyond the current litigation based platform. A strategy that will minimize risk, maximize value and optimize performance of your hard earned dollars. The days of a litigation based strategy are doomed. As this article points out, the people are speaking with their pocket books and if this does not have a direct impact upon non-profit tree hugging organizations and attorney’s then I don’t know what does.
As an environmental Strategist, I see this as a huge, baby step forward.
Green Group Buys Out Fishermen to Protect Ocean Floor
July 06, 2006 — By Marcus Wohlsen, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — For four generations, Geoff Bettencourt’s family has fished the waters off Half Moon Bay by dragging heavy nets across the ocean floor to scoop up the sole and cod that feed there.
But the 35-year-old may soon sell his right to trawl the sea — not to another fisherman, but to environmentalists.
The Nature Conservancy, an international environmental group best known for buying development rights from farmers, is looking to strike similar deals with fishermen along the coast in a pilot program that it said could be repeated elsewhere.
The group has bought six federal trawling permits and four trawling vessels from fishermen in Morro Bay, about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The tactic is designed to reward fishermen for forgoing fishing methods that can damage sensitive marine ecosystems.
Financial details weren’t disclosed, but each fisherman received “several hundred thousand dollars a piece,” said Chuck Cook, director of the group’s California coastal and marine program. Rather than punishing fishermen, Cook said, “you try to provide economic incentives for treating the habitats and fisheries well.”
The Conservancy said its acquisitions represent the nation’s first private buy-out of Pacific fishing vessels and permits for conservation purposes. The buy-outs are also part of its new, cooperative approach to protecting the ocean. Fishermen saw some past campaigns as financial burdens.
So far, the offer has been well-received, according to Bettencourt. “They didn’t come in saying they hate fishermen,” he said.
Regulators on the West Coast do not issue any of the permits and are working to decrease their number, said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency that monitors U.S. fisheries. Fishermen can only acquire permits by buying from another fisherman.
Bottom trawlers draw large, weighted nets across the sea bed to collect groundfish. Prized California species include seafood staples like black cod, flounder, and Dover sole.
The practice can damage sensitive habitats by crushing and burying large swaths of coral, rocky reefs, and other habitat vital to undersea life, according to a 2002 National Academy of Sciences study.
Trawl nets also can kill large volumes of fish the fisherman were not intending to catch. A typical three-day trawler trip can yield 50 thousand pounds of fish. Thousands more pounds of unwanted fish and other sea life caught in trawler nets also get thrown overboard before the boats return to shore.
Federal fishery managers have banned bottom trawling on nearly 4 million acres of ocean off California’s Central Coast under an agreement between environmentalists and fishermen.
Federal regulators have declared eight species of West Coast groundfish as overfished. The areas protected as part of the deal include vast undersea canyons near Monterey Bay, Big Sur, and Point Conception.
Morro Bay fishermen have trawled the Pacific since at least the 1950s, but the industry there has fallen on hard times. The high cost of coastal real estate and a shrinking fleet have forced seafood processors and other port businesses to leave, while fishermen say higher shipping costs have eaten into their profits.
Some fishermen blame heavy environmental regulations for making their jobs harder, said Jeremiah O’Brien, president of the Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization. But the new deal gives fishermen another shot at success and allows them to pursue more profitable, less destructive fishing, he said.
Some plan to continue groundfishing using more sustainable methods like baited traps or hook-and-line, which could help their fish command better prices among eco-sensitive consumers, according to Pietro Parravano, president of the Institute for Fisheries Resources in San Francisco.
Fishermen who sold permits to the Conservancy have agreed not to re-enter trawl fisheries, according to the group. The Conservancy plans to retool some Morro Bay trawlers for use in ocean research, clean-up, or law enforcement. Older vessels too worn for repair could end up as scrap.
The acquired permits are to remain shelved for now. But the Conservancy may lease them back to fishermen on the condition they use techniques other than bottom trawling to catch fish. The group is negotiating buy-out agreements with fishermen in Monterey Bay and Half Moon Bay.
Giuseppe Pennisi, 67, has fished the waters near Monterey Bay for 51 years. Five of his six sons still fish; one was lost at sea. Pennisi is holding onto his trawling permit for now.
“We’re a fishing family,” he said. “For us to do something drastic, it has to be a good business proposition.”
Source: Associated Press