Leave the Q & A panel all your hard questions here!
MC: Anna Fung
Q&A Team (+ general areas of specialty; please edit/elaborate if necessary)
Emily Moberg: environmental issues, coastal zones
Sean Wahl: climate
Isaac Joseph: climate, Japan
Denys Zhuo: fishing technology
Todd Mooring: fisheries management
David Anderson: aquaculture
Adam Bockelie: fish tracking
Vrajesh Modi: taxes, economics, fish tracking
Eva Cheung: social considerations, GPS
Alex Piotrowski: education
Alex Jordan: international, legislation
Claudia:
Sivikami:
Potential questions that people might ask
example: This is my question. (Alex)
Response:
This is my response (the respondent)
You contend that sustainable business is "in the long run more effective, more profitable, and more competitive." This is a really optimistic notion. In practice, it is the short-term profit that truly motivates mainstream businesses...If one company is "sustainable," then they will just be outcompeted by others. Long-term profitability is immaterial in the light of short-term competitiveness. How do you reconcile the contradiction?
What incentives do countries have to sign?
would countries actually be willing to give up trade rights with other countries that refuse to sign this treaty? Australia, despite its protests against Japan's whaling, refuse to place an economic sanction. It seems like the only people willing to risk taking action are radical environmental groups like Greenpeace.
how are you going to prosecute countries that haven't signed?
how are you going to regulate non-signatories and prevent them from entering MPAs?
Japan just violated a bunch of international regulations and went ahead with their whale hunt, and nobody's stopping them. What keeps signatories from violating our treaty?
Response: The Japanese found a loophole in the international regulations that permitted countries to kill marine animals for research purposes. If we're going to pass this treaty, it would need to be reviewed and expanded by a number of experts, hopefully removing any loopholes that would allow countries to bypass laws and get away with it.