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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 11
July 2006
‘Don’t be in denial’ whale expert tells fishermen
ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND – Known around the world as “the whale man” and also recognized in some circles for his work on lobsters, Jon Lien has spent a fair amount of time during his 40-year career with commercial fishermen.
He has taken the lead on releasing and/or disentangling countless whales – 150 in one year alone. He developed “pingers,” now used by US gillnetters in the Northeast to ward off harbor porpoise. And he worked with Canada’s lobstermen to identify and set aside prime breeding habitat for large female lobsters.
“They’ll produce hundreds and thousands more eggs” compared to smaller lobsters, said Lien. “They’re just far more successful.”
In the easy-going manner that has earned him the respect of fishermen, Lien added, “You also want big males, the big humpers. It’s the big males that are the successful maters. The little guys, they try, of course, but …”
Lien relayed this amusing but important anecdote on May 19 to a group of New England fishermen attending the 2006 “Industry Workshop on Trawl Selectivity and Conservation” at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, which is where Lien headed up the whale program for many years.
Although he used the lobster fishery to illustrate several points, Lien kept returning to the subject of whales to emphasize his primary message: “Don’t be in denial.” In the end, it never works – and it certainly hasn’t worked for right whales.
“The first reaction is: ‘A right whale? What the heck is that? I’ve never seen one,’” he said. “People get their backs up a bit. They say, ‘No, we don’t have a problem.’ Then the managers come along and say, ‘We do have a problem.’”
Lien believes the right whale problem is real because “we screwed them up in the 1600s” during the whaling era.
“There are only four lines of right whales and they all come from those lines. It’s a serious problem,” he said.
Lien’s convinced that everyone collectively needs to try hard to protect the remaining animals.
“They’re going to disappear unless we try,” he said.
Negotiate
In his next bit of advice, Lien said, “Don’t make the mistake of arguing the data. Then scientists will say, ‘We did the best we can.’ Science is easy to pick at because there isn’t any survey in the world you can’t pick apart.
“So forgive the stupidity of scientists and right whales but don’t make them your enemies. That would be a mistake,” he said.
After recognizing the problem, Lien advised, “Be prepared to negotiate. Suggest a solution. Otherwise, someone is going to suggest a solution you won’t like.”
The hardest part is negotiating in a calm and genuine way with all the players.
“Negotiations fail when you start to scream at each other,” he said.
And referring to some of Canada’s infamous breakdowns between fishermen and managers, Lien added, “You don’t get them to listen to you by burning down their buildings.”
Take the lead
Lien also encouraged fishermen to portray the problem in their own terms and explain why a particular idea won’t work.
“Say, ‘From my point of view, this proposal is very, very expensive and time consuming,’ or, say, ‘This alternative is not safe on my boat.’ Explain this in a positive way,” Lien coached.
And don’t be afraid to get your point of view out to the public and in the press. Yes, reporters will approach scientists and conservation groups for their opinions as well, but that’s OK, said Lien. He urged fishermen to remain steady in the face of those comments.
“Say, ‘Well, I understand what they’re saying. Let’s talk about that.’”
Given his years of working side-by-side with industry, Lien is convinced that fishermen “are probably the best” at coming up with workable solutions, which is why he thinks they need to be at the table.
During his time at Memorial University, Lien said, the staff had a fixed mindset: If it didn’t work for both the whales and the fishermen, then it didn’t work at all.
He concluded by urging his audience to remain ahead of the pack.
“People have totally different points of view, different values,” Lien said. “We can say, ‘You bunch of dummies, you don’t understand.’ Or we can be proactive.”
Janice M. Plante
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