[Coral-List] NGOs, Corals and Dive Industry

[Douglas Fenner]

Good idea!!!!  I've known plenty of dive shops that will jump all over you
if you touch a piece of algae on their reef.  I think a fair number of them
really care for the reefs, but they also have to watch their bottom line
and not offend customers.  But maybe we could try to get the dive industry
to back action on climate change and other big issues for reefs (nutrient
runoff, including sewage from hotels full of divers, overfishing, including
catching fish for divers' dinners, sedimentation, including from
construction of hotels and dive shops, etc) without always asking them for
money.  We need them to speak up, both to their divers, and to the media
and broader public, and take a stand.  Them taking a stand, standing up for
the reefs, in public, on record, is what we need the most from them.  I
don't think we need more money from them.  I got sympathies for people
trying to run a business with a slim profit margin, competing with others,
working hard, and all that.  And many of them work hard to defend the reefs
they take their divers to, not all by a long shot, but many.
     This is too important for the dive industry, or anybody else for that
matter, to sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to do the heavy
lifting.  We've all got to pitch in and do whatever we can.  Thanks to all
those who are working so hard for reefs around the world!!!!
    Cheers,  Doug


On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 8:18 AM, Ed Blume <eblume2702 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Do any dive shops anyplace in the world promote themselves as "green?"  The
> travel industry has green travel certifications, but I've never seen
> anything like that for the dive industry.
>
> Ed Blume
> Energy Consulting Network <http://energyconsultingnetwork.com>
> facebook.com/EnergyEfficiencyInWisconsin
> 608-225-6591
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 9:56 AM, Steve Mussman <sealab at earthlink.net>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >    This pertinent question was raised off-list: Can't the diving industry
> >    acknowledge the problems and speak out
> >    on the need for action without someone requiring them to pony up
> money?
> >
> >
> >    That was exactly the point I was attempting to make. What we are
> > looking for
> >    from industry leaders is not funding, but acknowledgement, leadership
> > and
> >    guidance. In fact, there suddenly seems to be a groundswell of support
> > for
> >    proactive engagement derived from divers and business leaders who have
> >    studied  and understand the issues at hand. At least those who are not
> >    predisposed  to reject  scientifically-based findings because they may
> >    contradict  some  core beliefs. The way that the diving industry works
> >    provides mystifying powers of persuasion to certification agencies
> (and
> > DEMA
> >    directors). The average diver follows their edicts with something akin
> > to
> >    religious fervor. If divers can simply be encouraged to follow the
> > science
> >    rather than rhetoric designed specifically to discredit conclusions
> > based on
> >    methodical   studies,   we   might   be   able  to  make  progress  by
> >    implementing actions designed to mitigate the blighting impacts
> > currently
> >    anticipated.
> >
> >
> >    Steve
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
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