Two weeks later, beautiful weather prevailed and the Ocean Opportunity party finally got out into the warm Gulf Stream waters off Narragansett, RI. Conditions could not have been nicer, and a small group - including educators, students, underwater photographers, and one corporate type - went out on The Snappa, the only craft in the area offering shark cage diving.To make a long story short, we had a nice boat ride but were unable to draw any of the handful of blue and mako sharks we spotted on the surface near enough to the boat for a decent interactive dive. Does this say anything about the depletion of sharks in the Atlantic? I suppose it must, to an extent, but I know that the previous weekend more than 15 blues hung around the same boat all day. We know they're out there, and I'll be back to look for them!
So, we snorkeled a bit and did some bottom fishing, which is where the story gets interesting. Captain Charlie cracked out a fishing rod so one of the kids on board could kill some time.
"Maybe you'll catch a cod," he said with the expression of a man who has lost the ability to deceive himself but keeps trying anyway, for the sake of the kids. The New England waters used to be thick with Atlantic cod before the stocks collapsed.
Needless to say, no cod were caught that day, but about two dozen spiny dogfish (a pretty bottom-feeding shark) were landed. They weren't even taking the bait - they were getting hooked in the fins, the gills, the flanks. The water 100 feet down must've been thick with them.
Which leads to the business lesson of the spiny dogfish: crisis for one is opportunity for another. Commercial fisherman and the fish-eating public exploited an abundant resource (the Atlantic cod) to near extinction, and the dogfish raced in to fill the niche thus opened up. The cod's (and cod fishermen's) crisis created opportunities for the dogfish and for fishermen in other parts of the world who could provide cod substitutes. Now, many of those substitutes are going the way of the cod. For the spiny dogfish, however, conditions could not be nicer.
The ocean is in crisis, and - whether they fully understand it or not - so are the industries that depend on the ocean for survival. Many of those industries will not survive. There will be regulation. Or, with growing consumer awareness of the problem, a backlash among the fish-eating population. Or the oceans will simply run out of fish. Who will fill the niche? Can they do so in ways that will provide long-term solutions, rather than simply driving another species or ecosystem to the brink?
One species looking to seize the opportunity is represented by Captain Charlie and The Snappa. As the world grows more aware of the plight of sharks through films like Sharkwater and anti-shark-finning campaigns by celebrities like NBA star Yao Ming, people will want to see and interact with sharks before they become too scarce. How soon until more Captain Charlies - men who used to take people out to catch and kill sharks and now take them out to dive with and observe sharks - start shifting their business models?
This will reduce pressure on local populations and, through competition, drive down the cost of getting out among sharks. It also will create a virtuous cycle of awareness and action. I am sure Frank (the 16 year old who got a very practical lesson on board the Snappa about how exploiting one species can affect an entire eco-system) will remember this experience and, as he grows into a full-fledged consumer, make different choices than previous generations did.
Will your business be ready for Frank?
"Maybe you'll catch a cod," he said with the expression of a man who has lost the ability to deceive himself but keeps trying anyway, for the sake of the kids. The New England waters used to be thick with Atlantic cod before the stocks collapsed.
Needless to say, no cod were caught that day, but about two dozen spiny dogfish (a pretty bottom-feeding shark) were landed. They weren't even taking the bait - they were getting hooked in the fins, the gills, the flanks. The water 100 feet down must've been thick with them.
Which leads to the business lesson of the spiny dogfish: crisis for one is opportunity for another. Commercial fisherman and the fish-eating public exploited an abundant resource (the Atlantic cod) to near extinction, and the dogfish raced in to fill the niche thus opened up. The cod's (and cod fishermen's) crisis created opportunities for the dogfish and for fishermen in other parts of the world who could provide cod substitutes. Now, many of those substitutes are going the way of the cod. For the spiny dogfish, however, conditions could not be nicer.
The ocean is in crisis, and - whether they fully understand it or not - so are the industries that depend on the ocean for survival. Many of those industries will not survive. There will be regulation. Or, with growing consumer awareness of the problem, a backlash among the fish-eating population. Or the oceans will simply run out of fish. Who will fill the niche? Can they do so in ways that will provide long-term solutions, rather than simply driving another species or ecosystem to the brink?
One species looking to seize the opportunity is represented by Captain Charlie and The Snappa. As the world grows more aware of the plight of sharks through films like Sharkwater and anti-shark-finning campaigns by celebrities like NBA star Yao Ming, people will want to see and interact with sharks before they become too scarce. How soon until more Captain Charlies - men who used to take people out to catch and kill sharks and now take them out to dive with and observe sharks - start shifting their business models?
This will reduce pressure on local populations and, through competition, drive down the cost of getting out among sharks. It also will create a virtuous cycle of awareness and action. I am sure Frank (the 16 year old who got a very practical lesson on board the Snappa about how exploiting one species can affect an entire eco-system) will remember this experience and, as he grows into a full-fledged consumer, make different choices than previous generations did.
Will your business be ready for Frank?
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