GUY TALK

DISRUPTING FOR GOOD

In May, I was invited by Virgin Unite to give a presentation to a group of supporters of Sir Richard Branson’s allies in business, education and outreach. My part was two-fold involving a presentation about research, management and sustainable use use of of coral coral reef reef and and pelagic pelagic fishery shery resources resources followed followed by by a a snorkeling tour of some reefs around Necker Island, BVI. In the context of “Disrupting for Good,” leaders of diff erent businesses and action groups talked about their experiences in an informal setting, and I was one of only two scientifi c presenters. Other fascinating topics included legalizing marijuana and decriminalizing drugs, reducing the U.S. prison population, a texting crisis center, leadership in various contexts and real life experiences by innovative entrepreneurs. The Virgin Unite team has the ability to pull together some of the world’s best leaders and thinkers for events like this, including former president of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, who made impressive contributions to various debates. One of the most impactful was a presentation on population growth, industrialization and climate change by Swedish Professor Johan Rockstrom, director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.

In a talk called Big World, Small Planet; Abundance Within Planetary Boundaries, Johan asked the question how the planet planet responds responds to to the the pressures pressures of of increased increased agriculture, agriculture, atmospheric warming, acidosis in the oceans and what are the tipping points beyond which the planet may not recover? Given all the scientifi c research currently in place, we are the fi rst generation to measure this disruption of the planet and to have the ability to fi x it. Despite the exponential increase in pressure from an expanding human population, there is still enough forgiveness in the atmosphere and ocean to dampen our current level of abuse. But the current risk we are taking would be unacceptable in any business or how we organize our private lives. We need immediate action in terms of reducing carbon emissions, more effi cient agriculture, conservation of ocean resources and maintaining marine biodiversity, which are all goals that we can collectively achieve.

GUY HARVEY, PhD

is an internationally-acclaimed artist, fi sherman, scientist, and world traveler, who devotes much of his time and money toward ocean conservation.

One afternoon, Sir Richard took me on a brief tour of Necker Island, showing me the breeding group of fl amingos, the near extinct lemurs from Madagascar, and the last stop was to see the vast array of solar panels that were installed three months ago. Electricity in the BVI, like Cayman or any other Caribbean Island, is very expensive. Immediately, the use of power on Necker has been cut by 30%, and with some wind and more solar he expects to be self-suffi cient in energy production by the end of the year.

I have recently invested in a solar trellis at my home and will be able very soon to have my light bill cut by 75% here in Grand Cayman, where the sun shines 350 days per year. In spite of the push-back from local electricity providers, the CI government has removed duties on solar panels and other components. I will keep you updated on how my energy bill is reduced month by month. I reckon in fi ve years I will have paid for my investment so I can spend a little more on my fi shing gear.

Fish responsible, dive safely. Guy.

Hot Weather, Cold Water

You may have noticed the headline on the cover (what we editors call a cover blurb) titled, Fish Upstream. It represents this issue’s coverage of cold water fi shing along with a few other “upstream” articles we’ve included. Many hard core fi shers are equally passionate about chasing fi sh, whether they’re in saltwater, freshwater lakes or chilly rivers. That’s one reason we’ve dedicated more than 25 pages in this issue to the pursuit of rainbow trout, brown trout and the like. The other, more important reason, is that upstream water travels downstream so conservation measures begin at, well, the beginning. If we’re going to protect our downstream water, it makes sense to start upstream, even if you only want to catch billfi sh. Ultimately, it’s all the same water.